Hampden-Sydney, Va. -- The University of Lynchburg men's soccer team opened conference play with a win over Hampden-Sydney Wednesday night. 

The Hornets used two first-half goals from Pat Figaro to get past the Tigers in the 4-1 win. 

Figaro opened the match with an unassisted goal in the ninth minute. Thomas Viscuso temporarily preserved the early lead with a save three minutes later. However, Hampden-Sydney's Charlie Letson got past the sophomore goalkeeper in the 22nd minute. 

Letson's equalizer only held up for a minute before Carter Averette thrust the Hornets back into the lead in the 23rd.

Averette's score tied him with Luka Mega for the team-lead in goals and marked a single-season record for the fifth-year senior. 

Thanks to assists from Chris Wiley and Ayden Cass, Figaro joined Mega and Averette for a three-way tie as the team's leader in goals. Figaro also joined Averette as the only Lynchburg player with a mulitgoal game in 2023. 

While Figaro's goal provided enough insurance for the Hornets, Mega kept pouring it on as the Hornets exacted revenge on the Tigers after H-SC bounced Lynchburg from the Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament in 2022. Averette assisted on Mega's team-leading fifth goal of the season in the 70th minute. 

Mega sits at 49 goals in his career and is one away from joining Bob Coote (98 goals, 1973-76) and Helmut Werner (80 goals, 1957-60) as the only Lynchburg players with 50-plus career goals. 

Viscuso ended the night with a season-high five saves in his sixth win despite conceding Lynchburg's first goal in nearly 400 minutes. The Hornets were last scored on 18 days and five matches ago against Christopher Newport on Saturday, Sept. 2. 

Lynchburg (6-1, 1-0 ODAC) stays on the road for another ODAC matchup against Roanoke on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 5 p.m.

Visit Lynchburg athletics' home online, LynchburgSports.com, anytime for up-to-the-minute news on all Hornets sports and coverage from the Lynchburg Hornets Sports Network. Click here to sign up for email and text alerts from Lynchburg athletics.

Give Lynchburg Sports a like on Facebook, and follow Lynchburg athletics on Instagram and Twitter.

--LYN--