DURHAM, N.C. – The High Point men's lacrosse team fell to No. 7 Duke in Durham on Tuesday night in the season opener.
Michael Ippolito recorded a hat trick and
Colin Cooke added a career-high three points with two goals and an assist.
Site: Koskinen Stadium
Score: High Point 8, No. 7 Duke 20
Records: High Point (0-1), No 7 Duke (2-0)
Head coach
Jon Torpey: "Hats off to Duke, they played a great game. They are incredibly well-coached and have a great deal of talent. One of the positives of playing a top-5 team early in the season is they will 100-percent show you where you need to improve. We got that lesson tonight. As for us, you look at the game and we completely let it get away from us in the 2nd quarter, we need to eliminate that lapse and learn to play for 60 minutes. I love our group; we just need to improve."
High Point was first on the board as
Parker Green made a stop in goal then cleared the ball to
Pete St. Geme open downfield. St. Geme ran up the field and found
Jack VanOverbeke, who scored the first Panther goal of the season just over three minutes into the game.
Duke went on to score the next four goals, but
Michael Ippolito notched back-to-back goals to bring HPU back within 4-3.
Brayden Mayea tallied his first assist of the season on Ippolito's first goal and then forced the turnover on the Duke clear attempt that gave Ippolito a clear look at the net.
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The Blue Devils held the Panthers scoreless for the remainder of the half and took a 14-3 lead into the break.
After a Duke goal to open the half,
Nick Rizzo netted his first goal of the season with 7:51 left in the quarter.
Colin Cooke closed out the third period with his first goal and added another to open up the fourth with 12:43 to play.
While the Blue Devils added a pair of goals, HPU countered with goals from
Nick Murphy and Ippolito. Ippolito's hat trick was his second of his career as he just missed tying his career-high (4 goals at Navy, 2/26/22).
Up Next: High Point returns to action on Saturday for its home opener against Detroit Mercy. First face-off is set for 11:00 a.m. in Vert Stadium.
#GoHPU
