RICHMOND, Va. – On Saturday afternoon, the High Point University men's lacrosse team squared up with No. 11 University of Richmond for its third Atlantic 10 Conference game of the season. The Panthers entered the game 2-0 in the league after beating No. 16 ranked UMass the weekend before. After hanging with the Spiders through the first two quarters, the Panthers fell 11-6.
High Point was led by
Owen Bunten with two goals on the attack.
Zack Overend registered his ninth game with double-digit saves after picking up 16 saves for a .593 save percentage.
Site: Robins Stadium
Score: High Point 6, No. 11 Richmond 11
Records: High Point (5-7, 2-1), No. 11 Richmond (9-3, 3-0)
Both teams opened the game firing off multiple shots but remained scoreless through the first nine minutes of action. Overend showed up big in net early, recording three saves to hold off the Spiders from making it on the scoreboard.
At the six-minute mark in the first quarter,
Tommy Meehan took advantage of a transition opportunity with numbers and tacked on the Panthers first goal of the game.
High Point held the lead briefly as Richmond answered with two back-to-back goals before the end of the first quarter. HPU trailed 2-1 going into the second quarter.
In second quarter, the Panthers went down 3-1 in the first three minutes. The team cut the game back to one goal after moving down field in transition while spreading the defense to find Bunten on the backside for HPU's second goal of the game, making it 3-2.
Mid-way through the second quarter, HPU trailed by two and cut the game back to within one on a goal from Collin Cooke. Cooke was in the right place at the right time, scooping up a tipped pass from his teammate
Jeb Brenfleck who felt the defensive pressure from the Spiders.
High Point entered half time down 5-3 after Richmond scored a goal in the last three minutes of the first half.
In the third quarter, the Spiders extended their lead to four with two goals. Bunten scored his second goal of the day off a tough angle late in the third to make it 7-4.
Each time the Panthers tried to get something going in the second half, Richmond had an answer. High Point struggled to get shots to fall through the final 30 minutes of action as
Carson Robins and
Ryan Hynes scored HPU's final two goals of the game. HPU fell 11-6 in the end.
The Panthers have not defeated the Spiders since 2021 in the SoCon Men's Lacrosse Championships, 11-8 in Richmond, Virginia.
UP Next:
High Point returns to Vert Stadium for senior day on Saturday, April 19 to take on Saint Joseph's at 12:00 p.m.
#GoHPU x #A10MLAX
