The Virginia Wesleyan University men's lacrosse team (3-6, 0-2 ODAC) was defeated by conference opponent Shenandoah 11-9.
The Marlins offense was led by
Patrick Ruffolo who tallied three goals, one assist, one ground ball, and caused one turnover.
Parker Lucas recorded one goal and one assist on four shots and
Liam Murphy had two goals, on two shots, and one ground ball.
Zack Tucker recorded the loss in net as he played 15 minutes allowed six goals, and made four saves.
Aiden Freeland came in relief, played 45 minutes, allowed five goals, and made 13 saves.
The game started off fast-paced, with Shenandoah taking the lead at 12:49 in the first period. Virginia Wesleyan quickly answered back just over a minute later when
Parker Lucas scored an unassisted goal to tie the game at 1-1. However, Shenandoah responded with a series of goals, including a man-up score to give the Hornets a 2-1 lead. The teams exchanged goals throughout the first quarter, and
Patrick Ruffolo's two goals kept Virginia Wesleyan in the mix. The first quarter ended with Shenandoah leading 6-2.
The second quarter saw the Hornets extend its lead capitalizing on a man-up opportunity at 14:00, and added another unassisted goal at 2:21 to make it 8-3. The Marlins managed to narrow the deficit with a goal from
Liam Murphy, assisted by
Ben Andrews, and another score from Ruffolo, assisted by
Parker Lucas, before the half ended with Shenandoah holding a 9-4 advantage.
The third quarter began with Shenandoah maintaining control scoring two goals to put the Hornets ahead 11-4. VWU made a late push with three consecutive goals, including unassisted scores from
Jackson Dinger,
Patrick Ruffolo, and
George Psaltis, trimming Shenandoah's lead to 11-7 by the end of the third quarter.
Heading into the final frame with the momentum, Virginia Wesleyan continued to fight, with
Liam Murphy scoring off an assist from Ruffolo at 14:38, and Sebastien Reynolds adding another unassisted goal at 4:58 to bring the score to 11-9. However, despite their efforts, the Marlins could not overcome the deficit, and Shenandoah held on for the 11-9 victory.
