NEWBERRY, S.C. – For the first time in its six-year history, the No. 3 seed Newberry College men's lacrosse team (11-4) won a South Atlantic Conference Tournament game, defeating visiting Lincoln Memorial (7-9) 20-9 in front of a packed crowd at Setzler Field.
The quarterfinal win advances the Wolves to the SAC semifinal round where they will face Lenoir-Rhyne this Friday at 1:30 p.m. at the Sportsplex in Matthews, North Carolina.
Leading the charge for the Wolves Tuesday night was
Baker Westmoreland (Charlotte, N.C.) and his four goals and two assists.
Curtis Bukta (Ontario, Canada) and
Jimmy Osorio (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) both registered hat tricks, and
Shane Halliwell (Cambridge, Ontario, Canada) and
Mac Ryan (Lake Villa, Ill.) scored twice each.
Griffin Broad (Wake Forest, N.C.),
Ethan Canning (Orlando, Fla.),
Adrian Channell (Ontario, Canada),
Briley Maxwell (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada),
Scott Reed (Ontario, Canada) and
Zach Thompson (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) all scored once.
Channell broke the ice two minutes in with an unassisted goal, but it was followed by four consecutive LMU goals as the Wolves found themselves in an early 4-1 hole.
After a six-minute scoring drought for both sides, Osorio found the back of the net just before time expired at the end of the first to bring Newberry back within two. Bukta's first of the game opened the second-quarter scoring at the 13:20 mark to make it a one-goal affair, the Wolves showing their fight.
Another six-minute goalless period ensued before Maxwell got one past the LMU goaltender to even the score at 4 off a Westmoreland pass.
The Railsplitters followed with a goal of their own to restore their one-goal advantage with 3:11 left in the first half, but 30 seconds later, Westmoreland scored to even it up again. Westmoreland kept his momentum going, getting his second goal of the night with 34 seconds left in the half to give the Wolves a 6-5 lead after 30 minutes.
That's when the Wolves put the hammer down.
Seven straight goals to open the second half – nine in total going back to Westmoreland's pair of goals – effectively put the game out of reach with five minutes left in the third. Bukta started the barrage with his second goal 45 seconds into the second half, followed by Westmoreland's third and a goal from Thompson.
Canning scored his first goal of the season to make it 10-5, as Ryan sandwiched a Halliwell goal with two of his own to make it 13-5.
LMU, though, responded with three consecutive goals over the final 4:30 of quarter three to make it 13-8 entering the fourth quarter.
Once again, Newberry scored a flurry of goals – seven straight – to make it 20-8 with 4:20 left to play after a Bukta man-up goal. Also scoring during the run was Broad – conventionally a goalie, it was his first career goal.
LMU scored with 15 seconds to go in the game for the final score.
The game was a relatively clean battle, featuring just one penalty in all. Newberry outshot Lincoln Memorial 48-42 and gained seven more ground balls (40-33). The Wolves also won the faceoff battle 19-13.
Ryan Erler (Smithtown, N.Y.) earned his sixth win in a row in net to improve to 6-1 since taking over the starting job.
As mentioned above, Newberry advances to play No. 2 seed Lenoir-Rhyne on Friday at the Sportsplex in Matthews. Face off is set for 1:30 p.m.
