By Joshua J. Darling, Sports Information Director
LAGRANGE, Ga. – A 10-goal first half and three players with at least three goals anchored a 15-5 LaGrange (2-2, 0-0 USA South) victory over Oglethorpe (2-3, 0-0 SAA) in an NCAA Division III men's lacrosse game on Saturday, February 18.
The Stormy Petrels got on the board first as Richard Bedgood IV found the back of the net just 3:15 in but it would not be a sign of things to come as things would not change on their side of the scoreboard for the rest of the quarter. While the defense was dominating, the offense roared to life, scoring six straight goals for a 6-1 lead by the 14:33 mark of the second quarter.
That outburst would be led by freshman attackman Luke Young (Acworth, Ga.) who registered three straight goals in a span of 4:32 and then added an assist to junior attackman Michael Poteete (Evans, Ga.) at 1:55 of the first. Sophomore attackman Ryan Comeau (Canton, Ga.) would cap that stretch with the score that opened the second before Bedgood took a pass from Jazz Washington and connected for what would be Oglethorpe's lone goal of the period, that coming at 11:19.
The Panthers then exploded for seven consecutive goals with sophomore attackman Andrew Brown (Metairie, La.) or Poteete being involved in six of those. Brown scored four of them and assisted on one while Poteete had one goal and three assists. That onslaught left LaGrange with a commanding 13-2 advantage with 6:03 on the clock in the third.
At that point the Stormy Petrels put together their best offensive stretch as Israel Pendleton-Moore connected twice with Washington finding the back of the net in between to cut the deficit to 13-5 with 8:14 to play in the game. They would come no closer, however, as LC added a pair of goals down the stretch to close out the 15-5 victory.
Bedgood IV and Pendleton-Moore led Oglethorpe with a pair of goals apiece and Washington had a goal and an assist while Jeremiah James added an assist to round out the offense. Addison Irwin played all 60 minutes in goal, surrendering all 15 goals against 11 saves to suffer the loss and fall to 2-3.
Brown anchored the Panthers' offense with four goals and a pair of assists to go with two groundballs while Young rang the bell three times with an assist and four groundballs. He was joined by senior midfielder Klein Woods (Macon, Ga.) with three goals, an assist and a pair of caused turnovers and Poteete finished with two scores and three assists.
Comeau rounded out the offensive effort with two goals and an assist and senior FOGO Jacob Jeffords (Marietta, Ga.) collected a game-high 10 groundballs and went 14-of-22 at the center "X". Senior goalie Isaac Bohrer (Fayetteville, Ga.) played the first 45 minutes, allowing just three goals while making 11 saves to collect the win and move to 2-2 on the year.
UP NEXT
The Panthers return to action on Wednesday, February 22 when they host Birmingham-Southern. Opening faceoff is set for under the lights at 7 p.m. at Callaway Stadium.
