Lynchburg, Va. -- To close out the regular season, the University of Lynchburg men's lacrosse team battled against Washington and Lee, but ultimately fell short, 17-15, on a stormy Saturday afternoon at Shellenberger Field in a matchup between two ODAC leaders.
The No. 3/3 Hornets (14-2, 9-1 ODAC) opened the scoring against the No. 18 Generals (12-5, 9-1) with a goal from
Riley Hastings and quickly built a 2-0 lead after
Will Rubley finished a feed from his brother,
Mark Rubley. After Washington and Lee answered with a pair of goals,
Spencer Vandenberg gave Lynchburg the lead again off an assist from
Cam Ash.
The Generals responded with a 3-0 run later in the first quarter to move ahead, but
Mark Rubley and
Cole Oprandi scored late in the quarter to tie the game at 5-5 before a last-second goal by Washington and Lee made it 6-5 after one period.
In the second quarter, Hastings scored again and later assisted
Kayden Hinchey as the Hornets kept pace, but Washington and Lee maintained a narrow edge and took an 8-7 lead into halftime.
Washington and Lee extended its lead in the third quarter, scoring three straight goals to go up 11-7. Lynchburg answered with goals from
Liam Holman, Hastings, and Hinchey to cut the deficit to one, but the Generals added another late goal to carry a 12-10 advantage into the fourth.
The Hornets continued to fight in the final quarter. Hastings scored twice to bring Lynchburg within one, and goals from Holman and
Finn Schmidt helped tie the game at 15-15 with just under three minutes remaining. Washington and Lee responded with back-to-back goals in the final minutes to secure the 17-15 result.
Hastings led Lynchburg with five goals and two assists, while Holman added three goals and two assists. Hinchey scored twice, and the Hornets finished with 36 shots and 26 ground balls in the contest.
Eric Allen made nine saves in goal for Lynchburg.
The stage is set for the ODAC postseason as Lynchburg slots into the second seed in the tournament behind WLU. The Hornets will take on Bridgewater on Shellenberger Field for the quarterfinal round on Monday, April 27. Time for the contest is to-be-determined, so follow along with lynchburgsports.com for updates.
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