Newberry, S.C. - In their first home game in four games, the Newberry College men's lacrosse team lost their second-straight contest as they fell to the fourth ranked Limestone Saints (LU), 24-12, Saturday (Apr. 2) at Setzler Field. With the loss, Newberry drops to 7-5 (3-3 SAC) and Limestone improves to 10-1 (5-1 SAC) on the season.
Newberry entered Saturday's contest looking to bounce back from their loss to Lenoir-Rhyne this past Wednesday (Mar. 30). Things started off rocky for the Wolves though as LU scored two goals within the first 30 seconds of the contest. Freshman Nolan Downey (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) managed to register a save after that but Limestone went on to outscore Newberry, 7-0, to end the first quarter.
LU scored the first goal of the second quarter as well but junior Scott Reed (Ontario, Canada) responded on a man-up goal to put the Wolves on the board and cut the deficit to seven. Junior Curtis Bukta (Ontario, Canada) then fired one into the back of the net less than a minute later to cut it to six, 8-2. Limestone continued the scoring charge throughout the second quarter as they scored six unanswered before senior Zachary Sunderland (Brampton, Ontario, Canada) netted a goal to close the first half and cut the Saints lead to, 14-3.
Reed opened up the second half with a score on another man-up opportunity but Limestone responded with a goal to push their lead back to eleven. Senior Gregory Gerber Jr. (Fredrick, Md.) caused a turnover at the 12:48 mark which led to Bukta's second goal of the day on an assist from sophomore Baker Westmoreland (Charlotte, N.C.). Reed and Sunderland both tacked on third quarter goals followed by sophomore Miles Jones (Jupiter, Fla.) lone goal of the day to close out the third. Newberry outscored Limestone, 5-4, in the third period to head into the final quarter down, 18-8.
Westmoreland started the fourth quarter with a man-up goal to cut the deficit down to nine. Limestone answered with three unanswered before junior Brock Strong (Clarington, Ontario, Canada) netted a score at the 5:00 minute mark. Reed and Westmoreland scored the Wolves final two goals as they fell to the Limestone Saints, 24-12 in their second straight conference matchup.
Newberry College men's lacrosse is back in action next Saturday (Apr. 9) for another conference matchup as they take on the sixth ranked Wingate Bulldogs. Faceoff is set for 1 p.m. at Setzler Field.
