HPU MLAX Panthers hold down Paladins in 10-5 victory

• Junior Michael LeClair extended his scoring streak to 39 games with three goals and three assists.
• Senior Matt Thistle (2g) eclipsed the 200-point mark for his career with a goal early in the first quarter.
• Freshman Tim Troutner Jr. moved to 7-3 on the season with 15 saves in the game.

GREENVILLE, S.C. – The High Point University men’s lacrosse team used a 5-1 run through the middle of the contest to earn a 10-5 victory at Furman on Saturday.

TWITTER VIDEO: Dan Lomas’ between-the-legs goal in the fourth quarter.

Junior Michael LeClair extended his scoring streak to 39 games with three goals and an assist during the Panthers (8-5, 4-2) key run. On the other hand, the Paladins fall to 2-10 with a 2-4 record in Southern Conference action.

LeClair finished the day with six points (3g, 3a) while junior Dallas Bridle joined his with a hat trick on just three shot attempts.

“I’m proud of the way the guys competed today,” head coach Jon Torpey said. “I thought our players and our staff did a great job of finding answers throughout the course of play for a very well-coached and disciplined Furman team.”

With a first-quarter goal, senior Matt Thistle moved past 200 career points. The Chelmsford, Mass. native tallied 11 points as a freshman at Manhattan and, with two goals today, has 190 points in the Purple & White.

“It’s an amazing thing to see Matt score his 200th career point,” Torpey said. “His competitiveness and fight are second to none.”

In goal, freshman Tim Troutner Jr. racked up 15 saves to move to 7-3 on the season. The Annapolis, Md. product has stopped at least 12 shots in each of the last five games.

Senior Dan Lomas stretched his goal-scoring streak to 12 games with a between-the-legs goal to go along with an assist. Meanwhile, sophomore Peyton Garrett tallied the team’s other goal as senior Jamie Piluso and sophomore Connor Robinson added an assist apiece.

On the afternoon, High Point registered a 22-20 margin in ground balls as redshirt-senior Adam Seal and freshman Alex Woodall picked up three apiece. Likewise, the Panthers controlled the face-off circle as Woodall (7-11) and Piluso (5-8) combined to go 12-19.

Despite being outshot 36-29, the Panthers earned a +2 edge in shots on goal (22-20).

Garrett kicked off the scoring just two minutes into the contest to give HPU a 1-0 lead. However, Furman bounced back scoring two goals in the next three minutes to build a 2-1 edge (10:00).

Thistle, then, scored a goal to eclipse 200 career points and tie the game at 2-all with 8:10 remaining in the first. Once again the Paladins answered quickly regaining the lead with 6:02 on the first-quarter clock.

But three minutes later Bridle scored to even the score at 3-3 and spark HPU’s 5-1 run. Thistle gave the Panthers the lead two minutes into the second before Furman equaled the score at 4-all with an extra-man goal (11:20, 2nd).

From there, LeClair took over sandwiching two goals around an assist on Bridle second goal to give the Purple & White a 7-4 advantage at the break.

LeClair continued his run after halftime muscling to the front of the cage to score with 13:16 left in the third frame (8-4). Furman finally snapped a 20-minute scoring drought to cut the deficit to three (8-5, 5:42).

The Panthers opened up some breathing room as Bridle scored his third goal of the afternoon with 7:44 left to play. Then Lomas showed creativity going between the legs to close out the scoring with 6:29 remaining on the clock.

The Panthers wrap up the regular season on Saturday, April 30 at home against VMI.