CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The High Point University men's lacrosse team hit the road for the first game of the season. Taking on the Royals of Queens University of Charlotte for the second time in program history, the Panthers brought back the 17-8 victory.
HPU had a balanced offensive stat sheet as four Panthers ended the game with multi-goals.
Nick Rizzo and
Brayden Mayea led with four goals a piece while
Nick Murphy collected three and
Jack VanOverbeke finished with two. Rizzo's career day in scoring was complimented by a career day on the assists with four.
"I thought the guys had a really good week of practice," Head Coach
Jon Torpey said. "Obviously, a great result Friday and a great result Sunday. Double game weekends are not easy. It was a chance for us to learn how to recover and pick up a quick scout in a day and I thought the guys responded really well today in all facets of the game. I thought our face off group was great throughout the course of the weekend including our wings and offensively our guys really started clicking. Defensively I was really proud of their overall effort."
Site: Dickson Field
Score: High Point 17, Queens 8
Records: High Point (3-1), Queens (0-2)
High Point was fired up to start the game. Putting the pressure on the Royals defense, HPU scored four quick goals in the first six minutes of the quarter.
Queens netted its first goal at the 4:47 mark of the first to make it 4-1 but there was no stopping High Points steam that was about to unfold through the rest of the first half.
Seven straight goals from the Panthers paced the game to a 10-point differential as HPU trekked to an 11-1 lead.
Before the end of the first half, Murphy registered a hat trick while Rizzo cashed in two back-to-back goals and three assists. In the mix,
Luke Dermon scored his first goal in a High Point jersey after returning this season from injury in 2023.
Mayea opened the second half in back-to-back goal fashion with a Sports Center Top 10 worthy around the world goal to start the third, registering his third hat trick this season.
Entering the fourth quarter, the Panthers held on to the 10-goal lead at 15-5. Rizzo secured his fourth goal of the game at the 12:24 mark before the Royals tagged two goals to make it 16-7.
Joining Dermon with his first goal of the season was
Mason Lazasz who scored High Points final goal of the day.
The Panthers took care of business and picked up their third win of the season with the 17-8 victory. High Point led the game in multiple stat categories including shots (57-28), shots on goal (37-16), ground balls (39-20) and face-offs (20-7).
The face-off circle was led by
Collin Hoben going 10-for-13 followed by
Luca Accardo with a perfect 5-for-5.
Next Up:
High Point remains on the road for a second game of three road games with a trip to Cleveland State for the first time in program history. The teams will square off Saturday February 24 at 12:00 p.m. in Cleveland, Ohio.
#GoHPU
