No. 10 Lynchburg Escapes Bishops

from staff reports

LYNCHBURG, Va. - The Lynchburg College men's lacrosse team was down 8-7 with 7:50 left in the fourth quarter but scored the last two goals of the game to defeat visiting Ohio Wesleyan 9-8 on Shellenberger Field.

The Bishops scored the first goal of the game, but the Hornets answered with four straight goals to go into the second quarter with a 4-1 lead. OWU turned the tables in the second stanza, scoring five of the six goals to take a 6-5 lead going into intermission.

Each teamed upped the ante on defense in the second-half. LC and OWU each scored one goal in the third, but LC evened the score at 7-7 with 13:11 left on the clock in the fourth.

The Bishops took back the lead at 7:50, but Ohio Wesleyan committed two costly slashing penalties with 5:35 left on the clock that led to a Hornet score at 5:03. Lynchburg then notched the game-winning tally at 2:09. The Bishops gained possession and had a chance to tie the game, but a forced turnover gave the ball back to LC who hung on to earn the victory.

Eddie Bilinkas (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) led the Hornets with three goals and two assists while Tyler Tolson (Lutherville, MD/Loyola Blakefield) added on two scores. Michael Mundorf (Cambridge, MD/Mt. Saint Joseph), Dylan Hoff (Chester Springs, PA/Downington East), and Ethan Farrell (Nantucket, MA/Nantucket) each found the back of the net once and assisted on another while Aaron Khouri (Memphis, TN/MUS) assisted on two goals. Franc Cook (Milton, DE/Cape Henlopen) received his first collegiate start in the net and recorded eight saves and was instrumental in shutting down the Bishops in the second-half.

Rob Young paced Ohio Wesleyan with four goals, Karl Zimmerman added two scores and two helpers, and Nick Gallagher recorded two tallies. Jud Hall played all but nine seconds in goal and notched 11 saves.

Ohio Wesleyan outshot Lynchburg 30-25 and held a 12 to eight advantage in face-off wins while LC corralled 31 groundballs compared to 23 to OWU. LC was successful on 23 of 27 clear attempts and OWU converted 17 of 20 tries.