HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men's lacrosse team put on a show for the final home game of the season at Vert Stadium. After going down 7-4 at the half, the Panthers rallied back with the combination of
Jeb Brenfleck and
Owen Bunten in the second half to defeat No. 14 ranked Saint Joseph's University, 11-9. HPU advanced to 3-1 in league play and sits in second place in the A10 standings entering the final week of the regular-season.
Zack Overend came up big in the cage for the Panthers, registering 23 saves on nine goals allowed with a .719 save percentage. His 23 saves set a new single-game program record which stood since 2018 by Tim Troutner Jr. (22 saves vs. Jacksonville).
Site: Vert Stadium
Score: High Point 11, No. 14 Saint Joseph's 9
Records: High Point (6-7, 3-1), No. 14 Saint Joseph's (9-4, 2-2)
The Hawks struck first with a goal two minutes into action, but the Panthers quickly answered following the faceoff win from
Luca Accardo. High point's
Carson Robins put his defender in a spin cycle with a back spin move to take on the goalie one-on-one. The lefty bounced in a shot between the goalies' legs to score the Panthers' first goal of the game.
From there, Saint Joseph's went on a three-goal run and took a 4-1 lead during a six-minute span. High Point's
Ian Cann scored his fourth goal of the season to make it 4-2 at the seven-minute mark in the first quarter. He was able to fake out multiple defenders and make a straight line to the goal and score. The teams closed out the first quarter as the Hawks led 4-2.
Tommy Meehan put the Panthers back within one, with an early goal in the second quarter off an assist from Cann. The Hawks had an answer and went on another three-goal surge. With two minutes to go in the first half,
Colin Cooke snapped one in the back of the net on a drive across the middle to make it 7-4 going into the break.
At the mid-way point, Accardo led the game at the faceoff X going 10-for-13 for the Panthers.
The duo of Brenfleck and Bunten set the tone at the start of the second half. [Jeb] Brenfleck powered his way through back-to-back goals to close the gap to 7-6. Bunten found his groove with five minutes to go in the third quarter and scored this first goal through traffic followed by his second goal one minute later on a transition break.
Zack Brenfleck threw a perfect pass down field to
Jack McAdams who found Bunten cutting on the backside for an easy goal. Bunten's back-to-back goals gave High Point its first lead of the game, 8-7.
Before the end of the third quarter, Saint Joseph's snuck in a goal before the buzzer to tie the game at eight all going into the final 15 minutes of action.
In the fourth quarter, the Panthers held the Hawks scoreless for 14 minutes of the quarter while tacking on three goals of their own. Bunten registered his third of the game at the 11:22 mark, [Jeb] Brenfleck registered his fourth of the game at the 5:56 mark and
Collin Rovere secured HPU's last goal at the 3:27 mark to lead 11-8.
Saint Joseph's scored with 53 seconds left on the clock and called a timeout.
Holding strong in goal for the final minutes of the game, Overend secured his 23rd save in SJU's final possession, preventing the Hawks from making it interesting. High Point picked up its second ranked win of the season with the 11-9 victory over Saint Joseph's.
UP Next:
High Point will travel to St. Bonaventure on Saturday, April 26 for its final game of the A10 regular season. The game is set to kick-off at 12:00 p.m.
#GoHPU x #A10MLAX
