The Virginia Wesleyan men's lacrosse team (6-8, 3-4 ODAC) lost to the Tigers of Hampden-Sydney College 16-11 in conference play.
Ben Andrews led the Marlins with four goals on six shots and one assist; and
Patrick Ruffolo recorded two goals on ten shots, one ground ball, and one caused turnover.
The Tigers sped to an early 2-0 lead within the first two minutes of first quarter play; but the Marlins fought back to level the game as
Patrick Ruffolo scored off an assist by
Ben Andrews and as Andrews scored off an assist by Sebastien Reynolds. With 6:41 on the clock, Hampden-Sydney scored to make it a 3-2 game; but Andrews continued his aggressive play with another goal to tie the game at 3-3. Hampden-Sydney responded with four straight goals to leap to a 7-3 lead; and Andrews again came in clutch for the Marlins with just 29 seconds on the clock to bring the score to 7-4 with the Tigers in the lead.
Hampden-Sydney carried their first quarter momentum into the second period, scoring six goals and keeping the Marlins at zero. The Tigers ended the second quarter with a 13-4 lead into halftime.
The Marlins played a clean third quarter both offensively and defensively, keeping the Tigers to just one goal and scoring three of their own to bridge the gap to 14-7.
Parker Lucas scored the first Marlin goal of the quarter; Sebastien Reynolds scored the second off an assist by
Patrick Ruffolo; and Cooper Seider scored the third, unassisted.
Hampden-Sydney stretched their lead to 15-7 with an early goal in the final quarter of play.
George Psaltis tallied a goal for the Marlins off an assist by
Parker Lucas with 6:27 on the clock; but the Tigers responded with another goal just over a minute later to claim a 16-8 advantage. The Marlins battled in the final two minutes of play with three consecutive goals by
George Psaltis,
Patrick Ruffolo, and
Ben Andrews, who was assisted by Sebastien Reynolds. Despite the late surge, the Marlins were unable to overtake the Tigers, who won the game 16-11.
The Marlins are set to return to ODAC competition against Roanoke College on Saturday, April 19, at 2:30 p.m. in an away game.
