The Virginia Wesleyan University men's lacrosse team (4-2, 1-0 ODAC) fell to Piedmont University despite the Marlins' third quarter surge.
The Marlins could not overcome a 3-0 score differential in the first quarter.
Mark Sprague repeated as the leading scorer for the Marlins with four goals while
Liam Murphy and
Jackson Dinger each had a hattrick.
The Lions scored unanswered goals before
Liam Murphy answered with an unassisted goal seven minutes into the second quarter. Two minutes later, Murphy scored another goal assisted by
Sam Edwards on a man-up opportunity to cut the lead to 5-2. Piedmont scored one goal to go up 6-2 before halftime.
Kris Barnum started VWU off strong by winning the first face-off after halftime leading
Sam Edwards to get his first goal of the game, off an assist by Sprague.
Piedmont answered not too long after, maintaining a three-goal lead at 6-3.
Jackson Dinger got back-to-back goals, the second being assisted by
Daniel Auxier. Sprague registered his first goal of the game, continuing the Marlin scoring streak and closing the gap to the host at 7-6.
The Lions answered with two goals to extend the lead to 9-6. Sprague responded with back-to-back goals for the Marlins, with the second goal coming off a feed from
Jackson Dinger. Piedmont scored three goals before the end of the third quarter to lead 12-8.
The Marlins came out hot as
Mark Sprague scored the first goal of the fourth quarter. Virginia Wesleyan outscored the Lions 3-1, with goals coming from Murphy and Dinger to close cut the lead to 13-11. Piedmont's keeper made some key saves to seal the win for the host.
Sophomore keeper
Zack Tucker played all 60 minutes in net, giving up 13 goals while making 17 saves.
Floyd Wells and Edwards tied the lead in defensive stats with four ground balls each, and
Carter Dukes tallied three caused turnovers.
