Last-Second Goal Thwarts Men’s Lacrosse In Its Repeat Chances At No. 12 High Point

Saturday, April 27

High Point, NC

Noon

University of Richmond

8-6, 5-2

High Point

12-2, 6-1

Richmond

High Point

Photo by: Carlos Morales

Last-Second Goal Thwarts Men’s Lacrosse In Its Repeat Chances At No. 12 High Point

04/27/2019 | Men's Lacrosse

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HIGH POINT, N.C. – The University of Richmond men's lacrosse team saw its quest to repeat as Southern Conference regular season champions fall short in the closing seconds Saturday as the Spiders suffered a heart breaking 15-14 loss to No. 12 High Point at Vert Stadium. High Point's Asher Nolting scored the game-winning goal with 6.4 seconds remaining to secure the slim victory for the Panthers.

The Spiders (8-6, 5-2 SoCon), who were seeking their fourth title in five years, enter the 2019 SoCon Tournament as the No. 3 seed and will face off against second-seeded Air Force. With the victory, High Point (12-2, 6-1 SoCon) earns the No. 1 seed and will face off against fourth-seeded Jacksonville in the other semifinal. The SoCon Tournament will be held here in High Point and begins Thursday evening.

The back-and-forth affair saw the teams trade goals throughout the second half with neither team holding anything larger than a two-goal advantage in the final 30 minutes. The Spiders tied the game for the final time with 1:12 remaining in the contest as their defense forced a HPU turnover. Junior long-stick midfielder Sean Menges (Richmond, Va.) raced to the loose ball at midfield and scooped it up on the run. Menges ran into the attacking area and fired a goal past High Point goalkeeper Tim Troutner tying the game at 14-14 with his first goal of the season.

High Point won the ensuing face-off as a violation was called on Richmond and quickly called a timeout. The Panthers ran the clock down to the waning seconds, holding for the final shot of regulation. Nolting was covered by the Spiders defense, but was still able to get of a bouncing shot that beat goalkeeper Jack Rusbuldt (Richmond, Va.) low for the game-winning tally.

Sophomore attack Ryan Lanchbury (Burlington, Ontario) was one of three Spiders with a hat trick in the loss, finishing the game with four goals. His four goals raises his Richmond single-season goal scoring record to 45 as he finishes the regular season as the top goal scorer in all of the Southern Conference. Sophomore midfielder Mitch Savoca (Newtown, Conn.) also added four goals in the loss. Savoca's four goals ties his season-high in goals (Bellarmine) and raises his season total to 21, giving him back-to-back seasons with 20 or more goals.

Senior attack Ryan Lee (South Salem, N.Y.) rounded out the Spiders with hat tricks in the loss. Lee finished with three goals in his final regular season game of his career. Joining Menges in the long-stick goals was junior Lawrence Galizia (Oyster Bay Cove, N.Y.) who tallied his first career goal in the second half while senior Patrick Shea (Oakville, Ontario) added the other tally for the Spiders.

Nolting, the SoCon's leading point getter on the season, led all scorers with seven points, scoring four goals and adding three assists. Troutner finished the game with 13 saves for the Panthers in the victory.

The game started as well as Richmond could have hoped for as they scored the first three goals of the contest on scores by Savoca, Shea and Lee. The Spiders maintained the multi-goal lead and held a 6-3 advantage early in the second quarter after a tally from Lanchbury. High Point responded with four-straight to take the lead and went into the locker room with an 8-7 advantage, scoring in the final second of play.

High Point had a two-goal lead at 11-9 late in the third quarter, but Richmond got back-to-back goals from Galizia and Lanchbury tying the game with 12:17 in regulation. The teams would trade goals back-and-forth over the final 12 minutes, with the last two goals coming in the final 1:12 of regulation.

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