ETTRICK, Va. – All-around dominance propelled the Catawba College men's lacrosse team to a decisive 21-4 road win against Virginia State on Friday evening at Rogers Stadium.
TEAM STATS
- The Catawba Indians (9-5) delivered 67 shots at the hosts' net, chalking up their second-highest total of the year, while holding Virginia State (3-11) to 28 attempts
- The blue and white excelled in transition, recording a season-best 20-for-21 (.952) success rate, against VSU's 20-for-26 (.769) mark
- Catawba possessed a 48-26 advantage in the ground balls department and barely won the turnover battle 18-17
- Cael Petroff tied the program's freshman record for faceoff wins in a game during his 17-for-18 day, while Dylan Cienfuegos (5-for-6) and Trenard McClary (4-for-5) also contributed to Catawba's suffocating 26-for-29 (.897) clip on the dot
- Ben LoPiccolo spent the first half in net to nab the win in a three-save effort as Brady Gauntner and Hunter Mestey made four and two saves, respectively, in relief; Jace Wiggins went the distance for the Trojans, tallying 12 stops
INDIVIDUAL STATS
- Tanner Stout poured in four goals with two assists, matching his career high of six points
- Peyton Turner tacked on five points using three scores and a pair of assists, while Jack Hart found paydirt twice for the sophomore's third career brace
- Andrew Crumpacker dished out a couple of assists, marking his first multiple-dime contest and extending his assist streak to three games
- Hunter Clarke and Michael Lindsey had two points with one goal and one assist apiece, standing among a 15-player list of scorers
- Steven Hernandez set a new career high in ground balls as he and Jack Butler each registered three pickups
- Petroff amassed 12 ground balls while Cienfuegos logged four off the faceoff
- Ben Butterfield was the lone Catawba Indian with multiple caused turnovers as the rookie tacked on two takeaways
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter
- Virginia State drew first blood 1:39 into the matchup when Miles Jackson connected with Elijah Bryant to take a 1-0 lead
- Jack Mercer submitted a swift response to tie it, then Clarke delivered a feed from Lindsey into the twine to overtake the Trojans
- Stout tossed in his first score of the day before Turner struck twice in less than a minute, his second goal coming from a pass by Stout
- Jackson Braswell and Frank Cetrone entered the scoresheet moments later as Stout and Devin Trzeciak landed punches late in the period, making it 9-1 through 15 minutes
Second Quarter
- The Trojans capitalized on a Catawba miscue to begin the quarter, setting up Bryant for his second score of the afternoon with an assist credited to Kalani Laughlin
- The visitors returned the favor as Butterfield stripped the Trojans, flipping the field to produce a Crumpacker-to-Stout tally to reach the 10-goal mark
- Hart added a shot on goal and Tigh Metheney hit the crossbar during a six-minute dry spell, but Stout ended the drought with an unassisted blast with 4:30 until halftime
- VSU was faced with seven more Catawba shots including four in the last 37 seconds before the break, surviving the storm to keep the deficit at 11-2
Third Quarter
- The blue and white sent in a trio of strikes in the first two minutes of the second half, receiving goals from Jordan Dash, Nick Cardone and Boston Rehrer
- Garrett Simi and Turner went back-to-back with bullseyes midway through the frame to stretch the gap to 14
- A slashing penalty against VSU presented Catawba with its second man-up opportunity, one that the visitors pounced on when Turner found Lindsey for the squad's 17th dart
Fourth Quarter
- After gobbling up two shots to end the third stanza, Gauntner denied the Trojans' first shot of the fourth frame, keying the possession that Hart ended with a blast
- Donovan Elmore snapped the streak of Catawba goals using a strike 25 seconds after Hart's
- Metheney broke through following a violation on the ensuing faceoff, preceding another strike from Hart that pushed the ledger to 20
- Jackson connected with Laughlin in the later portion of the quarter, but Gabriel Barker canceled it out on a dart with 1:23 remaining, allowing Catawba to cruise away with its 21-4 win
UP NEXT
Catawba squares off with South Atlantic Conference rival and seventh-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne on Wednesday, Apr. 23 at 4 p.m. in Hickory.
