Lexington, Va. -- A thrilling overtime affair that had the University of Lynchburg men's lacrosse team score the final two goals of regulation to push the game into an additional sudden victory period resulted in a loss for the University of Lynchburg men's lacrosse in the ODAC Championship against Washington & Lee, 13-12, on Saturday afternoon at Wilson Field.
The No. 14/11 Hornets' junior attackman
Riley Hastings scored a stepdown shot with 2:57 left in the fourth quarter that effectively tied the game at 12 apiece. With under a minute to go, the No. 9/10 Generals had an opportunity on the doorstep that was closed by a clutch five-hole save from senior netminder
Andrew Miller, giving Lynchburg a chance at victory in overtime.
Following another monstrous stop by Miller in the extra period, the Hornets had the ball checked out by Jay O'Keefe and capitalized on a chance in transition that finalized the conference final. O'Keefe was a difference maker in today's affair with a whopping seven caused turnovers and six ground balls. His ability to force the ball out and quickly get the ball upfield made a significant impact that led to Washington & Lee's success.
Out of the gate, the Generals got the edge, scoring the first two goals of the outing in the beginning 3:15 of the contest. Lynchburg answered back as fifth year midfielder
Grant Voigt finished a dish from Hastings, then junior faceoff specialist
Riley Frankel won cleanly on the draw and took it to the cage just seven seconds later. W&L proceeded to score the next four goals of the game before
Finn Schmidt got one in at the buzzer to conclude the opening period with a Generals advantage, 6-3.
The Hornets battled back quarter-by-quarter in the next three periods, winning each one by a margin of 3-2. Lynchburg clawed back to a two-goal deficit by the halftime intermission, 8-6. After Hillis Burns of Washington & Lee scored the first goal out of the break, Voigt and junior attack
Spencer Vandenberg combined for a pair of goals to cut the Hornets' deficit to one, 9-8. For the remainder of the contest, Lynchburg did not trail by more than two goals and evened up the score twice in the final period, once at 10-10 with 11:33 left and again at 12-12 to send the game into overtime.
Five of Lynchburg's performers tallied two goals in today's competition: Hastings (2g, 1a), Vandenberg (2g, 1a), fifth year midfielder
Jake Rust (2g, 1a), Voigt (2g), and Schmidt (2g). Sophmore midfielder
Liam Holman tallied three points on one goal and two assists. Though fairly even statistically, the Generals got the slight edge at the X today, winning 16 faceoffs to the Hornets' 12.
Lynchburg landed three players on the ODAC All-Tournament team: Miller, junior middie
Parker Sealey, and senior defender
Conner Harlacher. Miller had a solid 13 saves in today's game, Sealey finished with four ground balls and one assist while Harlacher had one caused turnover and one ground ball.
The men's lacrosse team has appeared in the ODAC championship game for 11 consecutive seasons and has made it to that game more than any other team in the conference. The Hornets now await to see if they land a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA selection show will take place on NCAA.com tomorrow, Sunday, May 4 at 9 p.m.
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