Box Score PDF

• Senior Matt Thistle led HPU with five points (3g, 2a)
• Sophomore Connor Robinson posted a season-high three points (2g, 1a)
• The win marked the Panthers' fourth-straight victory
 
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men's lacrosse team (4-3) earned a 13-12 victory over visiting Providence (3-3) on Saturday afternoon inside Vert Stadium.
 
HPU jumped out to a 7-0 lead and held an 11-5 edge at halftime. The Friars stormed back in the second half and had a chance to tie the game on its final possession, but the Panthers held off the charge to earn their fourth-straight victory.
 
"Hats off to Providence. They played extremely hard and the way they fought back from being down 7-0 is a testament of their work ethic," head coach Jon Torpey said. "I'm proud of our guys and their effort in getting the win. It was great to be able to get a lot of guys in again today."
 
Senior Matt Thistle led the Panthers offensively with three goals and two assists. Likewise, senior Dan Lomas added three goals with all of them coming in a 1:30 span in the first quarter.
 
In goal, freshman Tim Troutner racked up 11 saves to go along with three caused turnovers and three ground balls. Redshirt-senior Richard Byrd equaled his career high with three caused turnovers on the afternoon.
 
With two goals in the contest, junior Michael LeClair extended his point-scoring streak to 33 games to break Lomas' program record.
 
Senior Jamie Piluso helped HPU to a fast start going 7-9 on face-offs in the first quarter and finished the day 8-18 with seven ground balls. Off the bench, freshman Alex Woodall went 9-10 with eight ground balls.
 
Supporting a strong performance from the trio in attack was a deep midfield line. Sophomore Connor Robinson recorded two goals and an assist while junior Sean Harrison tallied two goals.
 
The depth continued to show as junior Dallas Bridle was credited with two assists and sophomore T Moyer added a goal. Three Panthers earned their first career assists on the day as redshirt-junior Danny Murray, sophomore Terrell Sands and freshman Joel Schwarz earned assists.
 
Redshirt-senior Adam Seal and Schwarz each picked up two ground balls from the wing as High Point earned a +11 margin on the ground (40-29).
 
The Panthers stormed out of the gate with a 7-0 run in the first 14 minutes of the contest. Moyer started the flurry scoring off an assist from Murray.
 
Just thirty second later Harrison made it 2-0 (13:09). The run continued as LeClair at the 12:12 mark to give HPU a 3-0 edge.
 
The pace slowed some before Harrison and Lomas scored 10 seconds apart to up the lead to 5-0 (2:49). Lomas then took over scoring off a loose ball then in transition to make it 7-0 with 1:23 left in the first.
 
The Friars answered scoring with 1:07 left before posting the first two tallies of the second period to pull within four (7-3, 11:49). However, Thistle and Robinson stopped the bleeding with a goal apiece as the Purple & White regained their six-goal lead (9-3, 6:54).
 
From there, Providence sandwiched goals around Thistle's second goal of the quarter to cut the deficit to five (10-5, 2:54). But Robinson scored again right before the half to send the game to the break with HPU leading 11-5.
 
The Friars' defense came out and dominated the third quarter holding the Panthers scoreless in the frame. The momentum allowed the visitors to score four straight goals to get within two early in the fourth (11-9, 10:02).
 
Thistle found LeClair for a huge goal at the 8:44 mark before rounding out his day with a third goal to give HPU a 13-9 lead (6:35).
 
Providence didn't lie down however and posted goals at the 3:21, 2:35 and 0:09 marks to make it 13-12. The Friars then won the final face-off, but their final shot sailed high as the Panthers escaped with the win.
 
High Point opens league play next Saturday at Air Force. The contest against the Falcons will face-off at 5:00 p.m. EST.
 
#GoHPU