HICKORY, N.C. — The Catawba College men's lacrosse team's season came to a close Saturday afternoon with a 22-10 loss against third-seeded, sixth-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne at Moretz Stadium in the opening round of the South Atlantic Conference Championships.

TEAM STATS

- Both teams saw an uptick in shots from Wednesday's meeting as Catawba (9-7) amassed 31 shots and Lenoir-Rhyne (14-2) sent 68 attempts toward the Catawba Indian net

- Catawba narrowly lost the turnover battle 15-13; the Bears committed six in the fourth quarter alone, while the blue and white also had a tough fourth frame with five

- Lenoir-Rhyne bested the Catawba Indians in clearing percentage, going 16-for-17 (.941) as the visitors won more often but failed three times in a 20-for-23 (.870) day

- The Bears dominated on faceoffs with a 27-for-35 (.771) performance fronted by Matthew Mancini's 16 wins; Cael Petroff prevailed eight times for Catawba

- Ben LoPiccolo wrapped up his rookie season with 14 saves in a complete game, while Jack Burdge remained undefeated at 6-0 with seven saves in the first three quarters

INDIVIDUAL STATS

- Garrett Simi tacked on three points with two goals and one assist as Devin Trzeciak also braced with a pair of scores

- Peyton Turner dished out two assists while Michael Lindsey, Hunter Clarke, Gabriel Barker and Tanner Stout recorded one goal and one dime apiece

- Jackson Braswell and Jack Mercer each found the back of the net once to round out the Catawba Indians' offensive effort

- Owen Conway put up impressive numbers in his last game as a rookie, grabbing four ground balls with two caused turnovers – both team highs

- LoPiccolo, Turner, Xan Varner and Jack Hart snatched up two ground balls apiece while LoPiccolo and Dylan McQuarrie accounted for the squad's additional two takeaways

WRAP UP

- Catawba enjoyed a winning record with nine wins including four in conference, the best marks since 2019 and in head coach Mike Murphy's tenure

- Stout finished the year with 37 goals, entering a six-way tie for eighth place in single-season goals in Catawba history

- Petroff collected 84 ground balls, setting the 11th-best total in program history and the Catawba freshman record, while logging the program's third-most faceoff wins (188)

- Conway racked up 25 caused turnovers to join Steve Lenehan (2001) and Gage Mason (2014) at ninth place for single-season takeaways

- Catawba expects to return 39 players for the 2026 campaign