DANVILLE, Va. – Averett University men's lacrosse saw a disruptive first quarter go in favor of visiting Randolph College, as the Cougars fought back throughout but lost 10-8 to the WildCats on Saturday afternoon at Daly Field at Frank R. Campbell Stadium.
Before the contest began, the team honored all Indigenous tribes from the Danville area and the Medicine game.
Averett (0-9, 0-3 ODAC) scored two quick goals, from junior
Cameron Shadduck and senior
Luis Martinez for the early lead. Randolph (3-5, 1-0 ODAC) then rallied to not only tie the game, but claim its own lead by three. Five in a row to the WildCats had them up 5-2 at the turn of the periods.
Senior
Emmett Wood and junior
Connor Boyd brought some life back in the second quarter, and reduced the home side's deficit to just one. A few minutes later, Randolph restored a two-goal cushion from Parker Eastman with under three minutes until halftime, and made it three when Chase Callan netted one with under 30 seconds left in the stanza.
7-4 to the good of Randolph increased by another into the third quarter, but
Gavin Dean eased tensions with Averett's fifth goal of the contest not too long later. Wood was back at the scoresheet once more with his second of the game, and a deficit that was cut down to two, yet again. It remained that way until Jacob Bucceri quieted the Daly Field crowd with Randolph's ninth score, as the clock ran under a minute to go in the period.
The Cougars went a man down mid-way through the fourth, and the WildCats capitalized with the opportunity, and scored their 10th to lead by four. Suddenly, momentum shifted in favor of Averett, as they had life late. Two goals in the span of half a minute from freshman
Gabe Gallegos and junior
Zac Coleman brought the score to 10-8, with all to play for.
The Cougars had their chances, but could not rally past the Randolph defense and fell short. Wood led the team in scores with two, but Averett had seven different goal-scorers on the day. Shadduck scooped up eight ground balls, and five different home players recorded two caused turnovers.
With the full day in front of net, sophomore keeper
Robbie Isenhour made 10 saves. Team-wise, the Cougars bested Randolph in shots, 47-30, shots on goal 27-18, ground balls 47-40, and caused turnovers 15-12.
Averett returns to home confines the following Saturday, March 28, when it hosts Virginia Wesleyan University for a 1 p.m. start.
