Lynchburg, Va. -- University of Lynchburg men's lacrosse senior Riley Mitchell scored a hat trick Friday in a 12-8 win over Stevenson.

Riley Hastings also scored a trio of goals during No. 9 Lynchburg's victory over the Mustangs under the lights on Shellenberger Field. 

Finn Schmidt and Jake Rust scored the first two goals for the Hornets. Rust's goal came with Lynchburg a man-up.

Stevenson's Shane Ford scored back-to-back goals to tie things up in the first quarter. Carter Besz broke the tie before the second quarter with his 10th goal of the year.

Besz scored once more to start the second on an assist from Hastings. The freshman from Alpharetta, Ga. totaled four points on the day and leads Lynchburg with 21 points on the year.

Stevenson and Lynchburg combined for eight goals in the second quarter, and the Hornets went into intermission leading 8-5. 

The Mustangs took 29 shots in the first half as they tried to keep pace with the Hornets. However, Tyler Hadley made 14 saves in the first half to mute Stevenson's offense. 

Hadley only made three more saves in the second half, but it was enough as Schmidt scored his second and Hastings and Mitchell completed their hat tricks in the final two frames. Dylan Wolfe scored on an empty net with 1:06 remaining to seal the deal for the Hornets. 

Chris Darminio picked up seven ground balls and caused two turnovers. Michael Kraus won 69.6% (16-23) of his faceoffs.

The Hornets visit fourth-ranked Tufts on Tuesday, March 14 at 7 p.m.

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--LYN--