Lacrosse season is underway, and the High Point University men face off with No. 7 Duke to open the season. The Panthers meet the Blue Devils, defeated Bellarmine on Saturday, 19-7, in Durham on Tuesday night.
 

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— High Point Lacrosse (@HPUMensLax) February 6, 2023

 
GAME INFORMATION
High Point at No. 7 Duke | Tuesday, February 7^th | 7:00 PM
Koskinen Stadium | Durham, N.C.
Watch | Live Stats | Game Notes
 
Last Season with the Panthers
High Point went 7-8 a season ago and 2-3 in the SoCon. HPU ended its season in the semifinals of the SoCon Tournament, falling to Richmond in a 12-11 game played in High Point. Asher Nolting was named the SoCon Offensive Player of the Year and was named a First Team All-Conference member with fellow attackman Brayden Mayea. Hunter Vines, Trey Smith, and PJ Peters were named Second Team All-Conference members. Nolting finished his collegiate career with the ninth-most points in the history of collegiate lacrosse (344) and recorded at least one point in every game he played in at High Point. Mayea led the Panthers in goals (40) and finished third on the team in ground balls (35). Jack VanOverbeke was third for HPU as a sophomore in points, tallying 19 goals and 10 assists.
 

TWO GAMES THIS WEEK!!!! ??????#GoHPU pic.twitter.com/jx6WqCcnSL

— High Point Lacrosse (@HPUMensLax) February 5, 2023

 
ACROSS THE BENCH
High Point vs. Duke

• High Point is 1-9 all-time against the Blue Devils, with its lone win coming in the 2019 season.
• Duke has won each of the last four matchups, including a first round NCAA Tournament game in May 2021.
• In 2019, HPU defeated the Blue Devils, 13-9, after entering the fourth quarter tied up, 6-6.
• Last season, High Point fell to Duke, 14-18, at Vert Stadium. Jack Sawyer had four goals and Brayden Mayea added three. Parker Green played all 60 minutes between the pipes and made 14 saves.
• In the 10-game history with the Blue Devils, six games have been played in Durham.

 
About the Blue Devils

• Duke entered the season ranked No. 7 (USILA) and is out to a 1-0 start on the season after a 19-7 win over Bellarmine.
• Brennan O'Neill leads the Blue Devils with 100 career goals and has been the fastest to reach the feat in 35 career games. He paced Duke with seven points on Saturday against Bellarmine.
• Dyson Williams led the Blue Devils with four goals in the season opener while Andrew McAdorey recorded a hat trick to start his sophomore campaign.
• Defensively, Duke returns the bulk of its defense from 2022. Kenny Brower, Tyler Carpenter, Wilson Stephenson, Will Frisoli, and Cole Krauss were some of the defensive leaders from last season with SSDMs Jake Caputo and Garrett Leadmon.
• Head coach John Danowski is in his 17^th season at the helm for the Blue Devils, leading Duke to three national championships (2010, 2013, 2014) and a 225-70 overall record.

 

Next time it's for real ??#GoHPU pic.twitter.com/XpQl7xvGmP

— High Point Lacrosse (@HPUMensLax) January 29, 2023

High Point Joins Atlantic 10 in 2023
After spending eight seasons as a SoCon affiliate member, High Point University joined the Atlantic 10, announced at the end of last May as the conference added men's lacrosse to its list of sponsored sports. High Point and Hobart joined A-10 institutions UMass, Richmond, St. Bonaventure, and Saint Joseph's to make up the six-team league and fulfill the NCAA requirement for an automatic bid for postseason eligibility. The Atlantic 10 will be the third conference (Atlantic Sun, Southern Conference) HPU has played in for men's lacrosse as the program continues to reach new heights.
 

Welcome to our #A10MLAX affiliate members @HPUMensLax & @HobartLacrosse ?? pic.twitter.com/lYjtaOlOiV

— Atlantic10Conference (@atlantic10) January 24, 2023

 
Mayea Named Preseason All-Conference Member
Junior attackman Brayden Mayea finished the 2022 season as a First Team All-SoCon honoree while claiming a pair of Player of the Week awards from the conference throughout the season. Mayea led HPU with 40 goals to go along with nine assists while tallying 35 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers. Ahead of the inaugural season of A-10 men's lacrosse, Mayea was listed as a Preseason All-Conference attackman.
 

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He finished 2022 with 4??0?? goals, was a First Team All-Conference member and an All-Tournament Team member. Excited what Mayo does in 2023!!!! ??#GoHPU pic.twitter.com/Iocnr220gp

— High Point Lacrosse (@HPUMensLax) February 1, 2023

 
High Point Picked Fourth in Inaugural A-10 Preseason Poll
In the Preseason Atlantic 10 Coaches Poll, High Point was slated to finish fourth among the six conference members as announced by the conference office on February 1^st. Richmond got the nod as the preseason favorite after winning the SoCon Tournament a season ago over Jacksonville.
 
1. Richmond – 33 (4)
2. Saint Joseph's – 29 (2)
3. Massachusetts – 20
4. High Point – 19
5. Hobart – 18
6. St. Bonaventure – 7
 
Panthers Receive Votes in Preseason USILA Poll
High Point was receiving votes in the USILA preseason poll, released on February 1^st. The Panthers tallied nine total votes behind seven other teams (Army, Johns Hopkins, Loyola Maryland, Navy, Villanova, Lehigh, and Syracuse). Maryland carried the most votes (490) to go along with 17 first-place votes while North Carolina rounded out the top-20 with 60 total votes.
 

7??2?? hours from our first scrimmage of 2023 ????#GoHPU pic.twitter.com/y4hyK9yPSg

— High Point Lacrosse (@HPUMensLax) January 24, 2023

 
Pair of Panthers Selected in 2022 NLL Draft
Two current members of the High Point University men's lacrosse team were selected in the 2022 National Lacrosse League (NLL) Draft on Saturday, September 10^th. Hunter Vines was selected by the Vancouver Warriors while Michael Ippolito was selected by the Panther City Lacrosse Club, both selected in the sixth round. In four years for HPU, Vines started 31 games for the Purple & White while making 53 appearances. In 2022, he scored 16 goals and dished out six assists while starting all 15 games. Ippolito enters as a fifth-year senior and started 14 games in 2022, scoring 17 goals and tallying two assists. In High Point's 11 seasons of NCAA Division I lacrosse, 17 Panthers have been drafted in either the MLL, NLL, or PLL.
 
Torpey Leads Panthers into Second Decade of Lacrosse
As the first head coach in High Point University men's lacrosse history, Jon Torpey has seen the program through its first decade of NCAA Division I lacrosse while compiling a 71-73 record with two NCAA Tournament appearances (2015, 2021).
 

Good to be back ??#GoHPU pic.twitter.com/Kcn8NnfZob

— High Point Lacrosse (@HPUMensLax) January 13, 2023

 
Every Panther Who Scored the First Goal of the Season
Nick Rizzo at #2 Maryland – Feb. 5, 2022
Kevin Rogers vs. Robert Morris – Feb. 13, 2021
Hunter Vines at #4 Maryland – Feb. 1, 2020
Chris Young vs. St. Bonaventure – Feb. 2, 2019
Chris Young at #1 Duke – Feb. 8, 2018
Jason Ashwood at #7 Duke – Feb. 10, 2017
Dan Lomas at #3 Duke – Feb. 12, 2016
Cole Carns vs. Delaware – Feb. 1, 2015
Brad James at Delaware – Feb. 1, 2014
Brendan Montrello vs. Delaware – Feb. 2, 2013