HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men’s lacrosse team opens its postseason in Richmond against the Spiders on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
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The matchup between the Panthers (9-5, 5-2) and the Spiders (10-4, 6-1) will face-off after top-seeded Air Force takes on Bellarmine at 5:00 p.m. Third-seeded High Point is the defending tournament champions after winning the 2015 title as the No. 3 seed.
Last Time Out
The Purple & White are coming off a record-breaking victory over VMI on Saturday in Vert Stadium. HPU set new marks for goal (20), assists (16) and points (36) in the win.
Likewise, senior Matt Thistle upped the program’s single-game point record to nine with five goals and four assists. Senior Dan Lomas also had a huge day scoring three goals in the first 13 minutes before adding a career-best two assists on the day.
Seventeen different Panthers earned a point including senior Zack Price who racked up a goal to go with four ground balls and three caused turnovers.
Tournament Notes
• Senior Dan Lomas had led High Point in scoring in conference tournament play. The Burlington, Ontario native has racked up 12 goals and three assists in the four contests (3.75 points/game).
• Senior Jamie Piluso has gone 39-72 (.541) in the four games while grabbing 6.5 ground balls per contest.
• HPU is 3-1 in conference tournament action with all games being decided by one point. In the history of the SoCon/A-Sun tournament five of the six contests have been one-goal games.
• The Panthers are 1-1 against Richmond and have earned semifinals wins over Mercer and Jacksonville.
• The four teams to qualify for the conference tournament are the top four defenses in the league.
Six Panthers on the All-SoCon Team
High Point placed seniors Dan Lomas, Matt Thistle and Zack Price on the All-SoCon First Team. Meanwhile, juniors Dallas Bridle and Michael LeClair were on the second team and Tim Troutner Jr. made the All-Freshman squad.
Thistle Milestones
• Senior Matt Thistle eclipsed 200 career points in the 10-5 win over Furman (Manhattan – 11 (6g, 5a) and High Point – 199 (97g, 102a).
• Thistle is the only current Division I player with 100 career goals and 100 career assists.
We’re Going Streakin’
HPU is currently riding a five-game winning streak, which is the program’s second-longest streak. The team enjoyed a four-game streak earlier in 2016 and at the end of last season.
Lomas 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.
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 (40 straight).
• The streak is the longest in HPU history passing Lomas’ streak (32) and is the seventh-longest active streak nationally.
• LeClair has scored a goal in 12 consecutive contests while Dan Lomas owns the longest active goal-scoring streak with 14 games.
Three Straight Nine-Win Seasons
High Point is one of 10 programs in the nation to win at least nine games in each of the past three years. The Panthers join the likes of Albany, Army, Denver, Duke, Maryland, Notre Dame, Saint Joseph’s, Syracuse and Yale. Meanwhile, Fairfield, Johns Hopkins and North Carolina are a win away from adding to the list.
Scouting Richmond
• Midfielder Alex Hatem is the leader of the Spiders’ offense after earning an All-SoCon First Team selection and registering 19 goals.
• Defensively, junior Brendan Hynes leads the conference with 31 caused turnovers and is fourth with 57 ground balls. He is Richmond’s other first team honoree.
• Along with those two, the Spiders placed attackman Mitch Goldberg, midfielder Jean-Luc Chetner and defenders Austin Cates and Ryan Dennis on the second team. Meanwhile, Teddy Hatfield represented the UR on the conference’s all-freshman squad.
• Richmond boasts the second-best defense in the SoCon (7.34 GAA) behind Henry Buonagurio’s .623 save percentage in six starts.
All-Time Against The Spiders
The Spiders and Panthers meet for the sixth time – the most common opponent for either program. Richmond leads the regular season series 2-1, but the teams have split their two meetings in the conference title.
Last Time They Met
• Earlier this season Richmond earned a 7-3 victory over the Purple & White in Robins Stadium.
• In last year’s SoCon title game High Point erased an 8-5 deficit in the final 7:30 of regulation before Sean Harrison posted the game-winner in double overtime.
Next Up
A win would send the Panthers to their third straight conference tournament title game (Saturday, May 7 at noon).