Lynchburg, Va. -- The University of Lynchburg men's lacrosse team improved to 2-0 at home this season after a 13-4 victory over No. 19 Denison Sunday afternoon in a rematch of last year's NCAA Tournament third round game.

Seeking to avenge last season's 14-8 home loss, the Big Red struck first on their opening offensive possession to take an early lead. Lynchburg responded with a 4-0 run to give the 13th-ranked Hornets a lead they did not surrender.

Jake Rust, Liam Holman, Brodie Mason, and Dylan Wolfe each scored once on the run, setting the pace for a Lynchburg offense that would net its first seven goals without a repeat scorer.

The Big Red responded with a pair of goals to draw within one early in the second quarter, the closest they would get the rest of the way.

Lynchburg scored the remaining five goals of the frame as part of an 8-0 run which spanned the second and third quarters. Riley Hastings scored Lynchburg's lone man-up goal of the game to kickstart the spurt while Rust and Wolfe tallied two more goals each over the span. Rust's score marked his 100th-career goal.

Lynchburg outscored its visitors 3-0 in the third quarter, notching its second shutout quarter of the season. Denison scored its lone goal of the second half early in the fourth quarter to end the drought but Rust answered immediately with his fourth goal of the day and the team's 13th to wrap up the scoring.

Rust led the Hornets with four goals while Wolfe scored a team-high five points on three goals and two assists. Rust has scored 13 goals on the season and 10 in two games on Shellenberger Field.

While Lynchburg outshot its opponents 54-37, it was arguably the defense that set the tone for the win. Tyler Hadley anchored the unit with 14 saves en route to posting a season best 77.8% save percentage between the posts.

Darren Palma recorded a career-high three caused turnovers while Dom Zingo came away with four ground balls and two forced giveaways. Zingo has a team-high nine caused turnovers on the year and seven in his past two outings.

Michael Kraus led the Hornets on the faceoff X, going 11-of-18 for a 61.1% rate while scooping up a team-high seven ground balls.

Lynchburg (2-2) will turn its attention to next week's Mustang Classic hosted by Stevenson University. The Hornets will play Stevenson on Friday, March 15 at 8 p.m. before facing Hamilton the following day.

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--LYN--