EMORY, Va. – The Emory & Henry University Men's Lacrosse Team (1-11, 0-7 SAC) came up on the short end of its South Atlantic Conference showdown with No. 12 nationally-ranked Catawba College (10-2, 5-2 SAC) Saturday afternoon. The Catawba Indians put up 13 goals in the first quarter on their way to a 28-8 victory.
The Basics
FINAL SCORE – No. 12 Catawba 28, Emory & Henry 8
LOCATION – Emory, Virginia
VENUE – Food City Sports Complex
RECORDS – Emory & Henry (1-11, 0-7 SAC); Catawba (10-2, 5-2 SAC)
How It Happened
- Catawba registered the first two scores of the contest, but the Wasps got on the board at the 11:03 mark. Sophomore midfielder David Mewes (Greenville, S.C.) dished to freshman attack Gavin Starling (McKinney, Texas) who found the back of the net to make it 2-1. CC responded with six consecutive goals to push their lead out to 8-1 until Starling struck once more unassisted with 5:49 remaining in the opening quarter. The visitors tallied the final five goals of the quarter for a 13-2 lead after one.
- Emory & Henry was first on the board to start the second quarter when sophomore defender Isaiah Ward (Fredericksburg, Va.) found freshman defender Brayden Hall (Salem, Va.) who beat the goalie for his third goal of the season. Catawba got a goal back, but Starling completed his hat trick with another unassisted tally with 6:57 on the clock to cut the deficit to 14-4. Catawba would add three more scores to take a 17-4 advantage into the halftime break.
- The visitors recorded the opening three goals of the second half as they saw their margin grow to 20-4. Hall put his name on the scoresheet again with 9:10 left in the stanza as he took a pass from sophomore midfielder Caleb Mims (Kingsport, Tenn.) and buried a shot for his second goal of the contest. Two more goals from the Catawba Indians saw them hold a 22-5 lead heading to the fourth.
- Catawba put up the first two goals of the fourth quarter, but Mewes got in on the scoring action at the 12:44 mark as he scored unassisted to make it 24-6. After Catawba pushed the score back out to 26-6, E&H broke through with back-to-back goals as Starling scored his fourth of the game on assist from sophomore midfielder Gabe Carter (Kingsport, Tenn.) and Mewes followed two and a half minutes later with a goal on a helper from freshman attack Dany Nguyen (Forest, Va.). The visitors would add the final two goals of the game for the 28-8 win.
Emory & Henry Individual Leaders
- Starling led the way for the Wasps with four goals, one ground ball and a caused turnover. Mewes added two goals, one assist and a team-high six ground balls while Hall finished with a pair of goals and one caused turnover.
- Ward recorded one assist, five ground balls and a team-high three caused turnovers to lead the defensive effort.
- Freshman goalie AJ Cakir (McKinney, Texas) posted 10 saves while sophomore Mason Buttery (Carmel, Ind.) had eight saves in relief.
Catawba Individual Leaders
- Tanner Stout led all players as he went for six goals, three assists and a ground ball. Micah Stechmiller had a monster day with five goals and six assists. Five other Catawba Indians recorded at least two goals.
- Broden Clemens-Ellison, Brady Gaunter, Tyler Ahlvers and Hunter Mestey combined for six saves in the win.
Up Next
- Emory & Henry is back on the road on Saturday, April 18 when the Wasps travel to the Palmetto State to take on the nationally-ranked Trojans of Anderson (S.C.) University. Faceoff is scheduled for noon from Spero Financial Field.
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