Lynchburg, Va. -- The eighth-ranked University of Lynchburg men's lacrosse team nearly erased a late three-goal deficit, eventually falling short, 11-10, to Old Dominion Athletic Conference rival Washington and Lee Saturday evening on Shellenberger Field.

Riley Mitchell tallied a hat trick and an assist for the Hornets, and Jake Rust and Ian McCarthy each scored twice. Long-stick midfielder Chris Darminio logged a career-best 10 ground balls and caused three turnovers in the losing effort.

Lynchburg got off to a hot start with two goals in the game's first two minutes. Mitchell scored on a Kyle Lewis assist just 46 seconds into the contest for an early advantage, and the Hornets made it 2-0 on Dylan Wolfe's second-minute goal.

Washington and Lee rebounded with a 3-0 run before McCarthy got the Hornets back on the board with 1:38 remaining in the first, and the teams ended the opening 15 minutes even at 3-3.

A.J. Nieves got Lynchburg back in front in the early going of the second, and Rust scored an unassisted goal at the quarter's midway point. W&L uncorked another three-goal outburst, capped by Hudson Pokorny's goal with 1 second before halftime to send the Generals into intermission with a 6-5 lead.

The Hornets won the opening face-off in the third and made quick use of it as Rust scored his second goal to even the score at 6-6. The Generals again had an answer, however, scoring a pair of unanswered goals for a lead they never again relinquished. Ryan Kenney got Lynchburg within one with 4:01 left in the third on a Mitchell helper, and W&L's lead was 8-7 with 15 minutes left in regulation.

The Generals earned some breathing room in the early part of the fourth, however, with a pair of unanswered goals by Hillis Burns for a 10-7 lead. Washington and Lee won the ensuing face-off and had a chance to put the game away with a numbers advantage, but Patrick Moore made a point-blank save to keep the deficit at three goals. Lynchburg quickly cleared the ball, and Mitchell scored on a Nate Shafer assist that cut the Generals' lead to two. The Hornets won the next face-off and Mitchell promptly scored to make it a 10-9 game with 11:56 remaining.

Then the defenses locked down. Both teams forced key stops as the clock wound down before W&L's Adam Lamberti broke the scoring drought with what proved to be the game-winning goal at the 4:42 mark.

McCarthy netted his second goal of the contest with 3:14 remaining on a Rust assist to cut the deficit back to one. The Hornets won the ensuing face-off with a chance to tie it, but Rust's shot hit the post and W&L wound up with the ball after a Lynchburg turnover. The Generals ran the clock down and escaped Lynchburg with the 11-10 win that snapped the Hornets' 11-game home ODAC win streak.

The Hornets (6-4, 2-1 ODAC) will look to start a new home win streak next Saturday when Shenandoah visits Shellenberger Field for a 7 p.m. conference contest.

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--LYN--