Lynchburg, Va. -- The University of Lynchburg men's lacrosse team cruised past Pfeiffer 24-8 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday afternoon on Shellenberger Field.

Having received a first-round bye, Lynchburg hosted a pod of four teams including the Falcons, Washington and Lee, and Lake Forest for second and third round action of the tournament.

After the 13th-ranked Hornets defeated Pfeiffer in Game 1 of the afternoon, Washington and Lee routed Lake Forest 17-4 to set up a rematch of the April 6 meeting between the two teams that resulted in a 10-9 win for the Generals.

Lynchburg serves as a host site for the first time since the 2021 season, in which they kicked off a run to the national quarterfinals with a 26-11 win over Pfeiffer.

Five different Hornets recorded hat tricks in Saturday's win to lead 12 different goal-scorers. Riley Hastings led the way for the offense for the second straight game, scoring five points on three goals and two assists. He recorded a season-high six points off five goals and a helper in the ODAC Championship game against Randolph-Macon last week.

Classmates Finn Schmidt and Spencer Vandenberg each recorded four points on identical lines of three goals and one assist. All three individuals shot a perfect 3-3 as part of a Lynchburg effort that went 24-48 (50%) on the day.

Luke Meadows opened the day with a goal in transition to give Lynchburg a lead at 1-0. The Hornets never trailed in the game and were tied for just 2:03 of game time.

Pfeiffer answered the Meadows goal with one of their own to knot the game up before Lynchburg exploded on the first of four different 5-0 runs.

On the run, Schmidt and Jake Rust each recorded goals while Hastings scored three of his points on a goal and two assists and Vandenberg scored twice. The spurt came as a blitz, elapsing just 3:56 of game time.

Quinn Becraft scored for Pfeiffer for the second time in the first quarter to cut the deficit to four at 6-2 before Lynchburg kick started another five-goal run.

Hastings and Vandenberg bookended the run while Meadows and Schmidt each scored their second of the day and Dylan Wolfe added a tally. Rust picked up two assists on the run that put the game out of reach and gave Lynchburg a 10-2 advantage.

After surrendering the third goal of the game, the Lynchburg offense closed out the first half with another five goals, including back-to-back scores from Charlie Evans. Evans scored his third goal of the game for the hat trick in the third quarter.

Henry Fowler was the fifth Hornet with a hat trick, scoring each of his three goals in the second half. It was the second hat trick of the season for Fowler, who tallied six goals in an earlier rout of Randolph.

Kayden Hinchey scored the second of two second half goals to conclude the Lynchburg scoring at 24, the highest output of the season for the Hornets and the third-highest mark of the tournament so far. It was the most Lynchburg has scored in the NCAA Tournament since the 26-goal outburst against Pfeiffer in 2021.

Defensively, Lynchburg held its opponent under 10 goals for the 12th time this season, improving to 12-0 in those games. They once again held the opponent's top scorer without a point, as Pfeiffer's Zach DeFazio (74 points on the season) went 0-4 on the day.

Michael Kraus paced a dominant effort at the X for Lynchburg, going 14-18 (77.8%) and scooping up nine ground balls. Kraus broke the program record for ground balls in a career in the win over Randolph-Macon. He has gone 31-40 (77.5%) on faceoffs over the past two games. 

Lynchburg was 25-36 (69.4%) for the day as Riley Frankel went 11-18.

Tyler Hadley made five saves in goal to pick up his 15th win of the season and the 39th of his career. He was named the ODAC player of the year last week.

Lynchburg turns its attention to a 4 p.m. date with the 16th-ranked Generals on Sunday, May 12 with a trip to the NCAA quarterfinals on the line. Both teams are seeking their second straight trip to the quarterfinal round.

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--LYN--