BANNER ELK, NC - The Lees-McRae College Bobcats hosted in state
rival Greensboro College Tuesday afternoon, falling 13-12 to the
Pride in men's lacrosse non-conference action. The Pride improve
to 3-8 with the win while the Bobcats fall to 2-8 on the
season.
Bryan Bishop put the Pride on the board with a man up goal at
13:22 to give the visitors the early 1-0 lead. The Bobcats
answered back with Ryan LeBlanc's unassisted tally just under a
minute later and took the lead off of Nathan Hammer's goal after
the teams played scoreless for five and a half minutes. A pair of
goals from the Pride by Jordan Drumheller and Neal McKinney gave
the visitors the 3-2 lead. On the ensuing face off, Pedro Silva
pushed the ball forward allowing Eddy Dolan to scoop the loose ball
for the fast break. Dolan found Brandon Marks cutting to the
crease as Marks buried his attempt to knot the score at three.
Nick Patrone would restore the one goal lead for the Pride just
twenty seconds later as the visitors held the 4-3 edge after
one.
Matt Markey would draw the Bobcats even again for the fourth tie
of the game with an unassisted goal at 12:41 of the second
quarter. Brian Butterworth would answer back for the Pride at 9:51
but back to back goals from Kyle Ficken and Landon Young gave the
Bobcats the lead 6-5 with just over five minutes remaining in the
half. Jose Rodriguez and Mike Foderaro would score for the Pride
in the last three minutes to give the visitors a 7-6 half time
lead.
The Pride came out flying in the second half, building on the
momentum of their late goals in the first and starting the third
quarter with 5-0 run to hold a 12-6 advantage. Ficken would net
his second of the game at 3:07 of the third quarter to stop the
bleeding for the home side. In the fourth, the Pride again came
out strong from the opening whistle, as Rodriguez would score what
would eventually be the game winner at 14:20 and give the Pride a
13-7 lead. LeBlanc's second of the game at 11:51 would bring life
to the Bobcats as began a fourth quarter push to tie things up.
Jack Pearl and Madison Thompson would score back to back goals
fifty seconds apart two minutes after LeBlanc's to give the Bobcats
new life and steal the momentum from the Pride. Matt Markey would
draw the Bobcats to within two with 7:53 to play, however a pair of
penalties would give the Pride much of the possession for the final
minutes. Ficken would complete his hat trick with 0:44 remaining
but the Bobcats would once again find themselves in a hole they
could not dig out of as time expired.
Andy Nesdill was stellar in the Bobcats goal, establishing a new
career high for saves in a game with 20, while Mike Foderaro and
Glenn Howell split time in the Pride goal picking up five and seven
saves respectively.
The Bobcats will resume Conference Carolinas action Thursday
afternoon when rival Pfeiffer University visits Tate Field. Game
time is scheduled for 4:00pm.
PICTURED TOP: Kyle Ficken
PICTURED BELOW: Andy Nesdill makes a save in the Bobcats
goal
