LEXINGTON, Va. – Aiming for a conference victory in the final league game of the season, the Virginia Military Institute lacrosse team fell to visiting High Point, 18-5, Friday night at Drill Field 2.
The Panthers jumped ahead early on the Keydets (0-13, 0-6) with quick strikes at the VMI net, advancing to a 7-0 advantage after one quarter of play. Matt Thistle struck first for High Point at the 13:15 mark before the Panthers scored six more goals in a four-minute span to build the 7-0 lead midway through.
“This one stings because it was our last opportunity of the year to earn a SoCon win,” said VMI head coach Brian Anken. “We had a great week preparing for a very good team and created a lot of quality scoring opportunities early but could not finish. I'm happy we have a quick turn around and opportunity to play again on Sunday.”
High Point (7-6, 3-2) would score three more goals in the second quarter for a 10-0 lead before VMI's Wesley Sanders put the Keydets on the board with an unassisted goal with 2:53 before the intermission.
Brad Biondello and Sanders teamed up to take advantage of a powerplay opportunity late in the third period as Biondello took a pass from Sanders and put it into the Panther net to cut the Panther lead to 14-2 going into the fourth period.
Keydets Tom Nofi, Biondello and Eric Groleau scored for VMI in the final quarter, but the VMI deficit proved insurmountable as High Point left with the 18-5 win.
Panther Matt Thistle led the offensive efforts for High Point with three goals on the night while Dan Lomas, Michael Leclair and Sean Harrison each scored a pair. Thistle and Brad James each had two assists to their credit.
Biondello led the way for the Keydets with two goals on six shot attempts. Sanders scored a goal with two assists on the evening to go with a team-high nine shots. Defensively, Tyler Prasnicki caused four turnovers to put the ball back in VMI's possession.
High Point's Zach Tuell was given the win in 49 minutes of play as he earned 11 saves while VMI's Evan Windisch was pinned with the loss despite eight saves in the outing.
The Keydets return to Drill Field 2 with a quick turnaround to face non-conference foe Canisius College Sunday at noon.
