Tigers advance to ODAC semifinals

Published 8:27 am Wednesday, May 5, 2021

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A weather delay late in the second quarter could not stop the nationally-ranked Hampden-Sydney College lacrosse team as the Tigers picked up a 14-5 win over Randolph-Macon in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

The Tigers led 4-3 at the half but scored nine unanswered goals in the third and fourth quarters to take an overwhelming lead. R-MC concludes its season with a 6-8 record.

Senior Jack Hayden opened up the scoring for H-SC just over a minute and half into the game off a pass from Charlie Doetzer. Bobby Clagett extended the lead with 9:44 left in the first quarter off a pass from freshman Ray O’Brien. The Yellow Jackets responded with a pair of goals, tying the game up at 2-2 with 6:38 left in the period. However, Hayden scored his second goal of the game with 4:21 left and senior Jake O’Brien/ got an assist from Clagett at 1:39 to give the Tigers a 4-2 lead after one period.

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The second quarter was a relatively quiet and long period for both teams. Neither team had scored in the period when with 6:20 left, lightning in the area forced both teams to retreat to their locker rooms for nearly 50 minutes. When the teams returned it was Randolph-Macon who scored the lone goal of the quarter and pulled the Yellow Jackets within one at 4-3 in the Tigers favor at a shortened halftime. 

Senior Reilly French started a string of nine-straight goals for H-SC with 13:36 left in the third off a pass from Hayden. The Tigers also got third quarter goals from Clagett (10:43, 7:56), senior Jared Medwar, and junior Sean Duffy (6:20).

H-SC picked up the fourth quarter where it left off in the third. With a 9-3 lead already in hand, Medwar continued the scoring run with 13:30 left in the game. Jake O’Brien then rattled off three-straight goals for the Tigers in a 2:09 span. He found the back of the cage at 11:57, 10:46, and 9:48. R-MC finally stopped the run with a goal at 5:55 left in the fourth. With just 16 second left in the game senior Palmer Jones took a pass from freshman Patrick Saunders and scored to put the lead back at 14-4. The Yellow Jackets took the resulting face off and scored with 10 seconds left before falling with a final score of 14-5.

Both Jake O’Brien and Clagett each had five points for the Tigers with four goals, one assist and three goals, two assists, respectively. Seven different H-SC players scored in the game and eight different ones offered up an assist. 

Junior Will Perry made nine saves in the win while playing 56:43 of the contest. Sophomore Nick Morgan led the team with three caused turnovers with both Jake O’Brien and junior Presley Miller each forcing two. Ten different Tigers forced at least one Yellow Jacket turnover. Sophomore Nick Thompson went 15-21 from the X while scooping up a game-high nine ground balls.

With the win, the No. 14/16 Tigers advance to the ODAC Tournament semifinals where they will have a rematch against No. 4 Lynchburg on Thursday, May 6. The two teams played on Saturday, May 1 with the Hornets scoring late for a 11-9 win. Game time in Lynchburg is scheduled for 7 p.m. from Shellenberger Field.