Volunteer State News

The LMU Men's Lacrosse Team returned home this weekend and welcomed the Emmanuel College Lions to compete in their second game of the week.  The Railsplitters came out on top with a final score of 17-9. 

The first quarter kicked off by Haden Berry picking up the ground ball from the faceoff. LMU had two shots go wide before Hunter Kot found the back of the net to get the Railsplitters going.  A few minutes later, Michael Rogers caused a turnover to get it back on their offensive end, where Cayden McClure got himself a goal, making it a quick 2-0 score. Emmanuel then answered with their own two goals to tie it up. A successful clear attempt by LMU led to Rhodes Conroy assisting Hunter Kot to get his second goal, making it 3-2 before the end of the quarter.  
 
The Lions won the faceoff in the second quarter but then quickly lost it as LMU had another successful clear. Shots came from Diehlman and Reid but were out wide.  However, Rhodes Conroy found the back of the net to get them going.  Haden Berry won the next faceoff leading to a goal by Francis O'Hara, making it his first of the game.  Emmanuel tried to get on the board but was missing shots wide and unable to keep the ball on their offensive side due to good defense by John Lombel.  Rhodes Conroy found himself another goal, making the score 6-2.  O'Hara and Ashton Wilson would get in two more goals to make it 8-2 before the half.  However, the Lions were able to get one more in to try and make the score closer, making it 8-3 at the half.
 
The Lions could hold off the Railsplitters in getting another goal for a few minutes before Francis O'Hara got another one with an assist by Jordan Sullivan, who caused a turnover right before.  Tyler Shea was not letting Emmanuel get another shot in, having four saves in this quarter.  O'Hara got another goal after having the ball on their offensive side with shots missing wide. They were able to make the score 10-3.  LMU went on a 5-0 run this quarter, adding three more goals from Gunner Cisko, Gavin Reid, and Brock Saunders, making the end of the quarter score 13-3. 
 
In the game's final quarter, the Lions started off on a 3-0 run to try and get some momentum back on their side.  Hunter Kot could stop that run with a man-up goal and an assist from Daniel Pearl.  Less than ten seconds later, Ashton Wilson scored a man-up goal with an assist from Michael Rogers, followed by a faceoff win and a goal from Matthew Wood. Emmanuel was not giving up hope, trying to get shots off to make the game close; however, it was too late.  Quinn Hepler scored the final goal of the game with an assist from Conroy to make it a 17-9 score.
 
Notables: 
Francis O'Hara led with four goals.
Hunter Kot had three goals.
Ashton Wilson and Rhodes Conroy each had two goals.
Reid, Hepler, McClure, Wood, Saunders, and Cisko all had one goal.
Michael Rogers led with five ground balls, then Jordan Sullivan and Haden Berry, each with four. 
Tyler Shea had nine saves in goal; Hunter Rinehart had five.
 
Next Up:
LMU will be back on the road Saturday, March 4th, to start conference play against the Newberry Wolves at 7 pm. 

Original source can be found here