College Men’s Lacrosse Final – Va. Wesleyan 10, Guilford 7

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Rory Finnegan made 28 saves in visiting Virginia Wesleyan College’s 10-7 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) men’s lacrosse victory over Guilford College Saturday.

John Roth scored three times and Josh Currier and Joe Papetti added two goals apiece in the Marlins’ (9-4, 6-1 ODAC) sixth win in seven games.

Guilford (9-4, 3-4 ODAC) erased an early 4-2 deficit in the second quarter on back-to-back scores by Jake Sadd and Chandler Zirkle. Currier’s man-up goal with 5:06 left in the second quarter gave the Marlins a 5-4 halftime lead.

Guilford continued to pepper Finnegan with shots in the second half, but the senior had the answer more often than not. He made 17 second-half saves, 10 in the final quarter. Guilford held a 31-19 edge in shots over the final two quarters and a 60-41 advantage in the game.

Finnegan’s play helped Virginia Wesleyan extend its halftime lead with three unanswered third-quarter scores, including a Papetti tally with seven seconds left in the period.

Zirkle gave the Quakers hope with his second and third goals of the game within a 75-second span early in the fourth quarter, which brought Guilford to within 8-6. After Zirkle’s tally at the 11:22 mark, Papetti restored the Marlins’ lead to three 30 seconds later. The teams traded goals in the final 10 minutes as Finnegan denied the Quakers with 10 fourth-quarter stops.

Zirkle’s three goals paced Guilford’s offense, which also to two goals from Dylan Haupt and four assists from Alex Brownlee. Connor Manning won 14-of-21 faceoffs and picked up five ground balls. Rufus Terry caused four of Virginia Wesleyan’s 22 turnovers, compared to 11 Quakers’ miscues. Thomas Deane made six saves in goal.

Coach Tom Carmean’s Quakers visit league-rival Washington and Lee University Wednesday (4/22) at 7:00 p.m.