HPU MLAX Panthers host Bears on Sunday in Vert Stadium

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men’s lacrosse team returns to the Vert Stadium turf on Sunday at noon to host Mercer.

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The Panthers (4-5, 0-2) are back home after dropping consecutive contests at Air Force and Richmond over the past two weeks. Meanwhile, the Bears (3-5) are off to a 1-1 start in league play with a 13-2 win over VMI and an 11-7 setback to Bellarmine.

Last Time Out
• For the second week in a row, the Panthers fell behind early and couldn’t comeback in a 7-3 setback at Richmond. The Spiders jumped out to a 3-1 lead after one quarter and then tallied a 3-0 run to start the fourth quarter and pull away for the win.

• Junior Michael LeClair scored one of the team’s three goals to extend his scoring streak to 35 contests.

• Freshman Tim Troutner played well in goal making 12 saves while causing two turnovers.

• Seniors Dan Lomas and Matt Thistle each tallied unassisted goals to produce the squads other two tallies on the day.

• Freshman Alex Woodall went 8-13 (.615) in the face-off circle while picking up a team-best four ground balls.

Lomas named a finalist for Senior CLASS Award
Dan Lomas was selected as one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award, the first finalist in program history. Fan vote makes up one-third of the vote and you can place your vote here.

LeClair’s Streak
• As a freshman, LeClair posted a point in three of his first seven games, but has scored in every one since then (35 straight).

• The streak is the longest in HPU history passing Lomas’ streak (32).

• The 35-game streak is the seventh-longest active streak nationally.

Active National Leaders
• Senior Dan Lomas is second among active players nationally with 144 career goals. The Burlington, Ontario native also ranks 16th in the nation in career points (163).

• Just ahead of Lomas in career points is senior Matt Thistle with 175 – good for ninth nationally. He’s third in assists (93).

• Senior Jamie Piluso leads all active players in face-offs won (562) and third in ground balls (287).

Scouting Mercer
• After being picked to finish fourth in the league’s preseason poll, the Bears are 1-1 in SoCon play and 3-5 overall.

• Last Saturday, Mercer tallied two goals in the first four minutes of its game against Drexel. However, the Bears could only muster three more goals the rest of the way as they fell 12-5.

• Senior Mike Nugent anchors the squad’s defense. He is fourth in the SoCon in both goals-against average (10.21) and save per game (10.38). For his career, he is third among active players with 570 career stops.

• Senior Chris Baxa is second in the conference with 2.17 goals per game. The two-time All-SoCon Second Team selection has tallied has scored at least one goal in each game in 2016.

• Junior Colin Massa, who joined Nugent and Baxa on the 2015 All-SoCon Second Team, leads the team with nine caused turnovers and while adding a goal and an assist.

All-Time Against the Bears
High Point is 2-2 all-time against the Bears. The two teams split their two one-goal contests last season. In total, three of the four contests have been decided by one goal. The other was a 12-10 victory for HPU.

Last Time They Met
• The Bears picked up a dramatic home win over HPU in mid-April, but it was the Panthers who came out on top in another one-goal game in the SoCon semifinals.

• Michael LeClair experienced great success against Mercer last season. The attackman tallied six points (4g, 1a) in the first meeting before notching the game-winner with 4:11 to play in the SoCon tournament.

Next Up
The Panthers remain at home next weekend to entertain Bellarmine on Saturday, April 9 at noon.