The season has started… The college lacrosse season has officially started! Sure, some teams (like those in the NESCAC) haven’t started practice yet (and won’t until Feb 15th), but two D1 squads already have a game in the books… if that’s not the official start to the season, I don’t know what is!
Be sure not to miss our News And Video Explosion from late last week! There was plenty of good stuff in there to get you caught up!
The Season Has Started – HPU Vs Delaware
High Point hosted Delaware on February 1st in North Carolina for the 2015 season’s first official game. They only missed January by one day! That’s an early start. The early start was notable, and it seemed to impact play at times. HPU went early on draws 4 times in the first half, and two of those early starts resulted in man down situations. Both teams took some good shots, and we saw plenty of first half goals from a variety of players, but there was also plenty of early season weirdness and exciting transition play.
At the half, the score was tied 7-7, and although Delaware outshot the Panthers, Austin Geisler did a good job of keeping High Point in the game.
(Yeah, the High Point webcast is good!)
In the second half, both teams got some chances but High Point’s Dan Lomas came to life, and HPU was up 10-7 only a couple of minutes into the second half. Delaware was very patient on offense and attacked from a number of different angles. They saw success with the bounce shot early, but this faded later in the game as they put a number over the cage.
Dan Lomas wasn’t done though, and after his fifth goal of the game, High Point led 12-8 early in the fourth quarter. Lomas was a threat on the crease and finished with deftly placed shots. False starts on face offs dropped off for HPU’s Piluso, and this made a big difference for the Panthers getting possession after possession, as well as drawing some key penalties.
Delaware simply could not claw their way back into the game at this point, and HPU continued on to win the game 15-10. There was a little pushing towards the end of the game, and flags flew with about 23 seconds left, but things did not spiral out of control at all.
High Point’s next game will an epic challenge against Duke next weekend. While I gave a lot of credit to Lomas, Piluso, and Geisler, Matt Thistle was a huge part of this win and he notched five goals of his own to go along with two assists. High Point showed their relatively new program is here to stay.
College News Round Up
Preview for Delaware can be found here. High Point season preview found here. Q&A with Mark Dixon from the Baltimore Sun. Denver using drones to perfect practices. Gorran Murray out for 2015 season with eligibility issues. Preview for Hofstra from Newsday. Former Cuse player competing in ironman for veterans charity. How does Navy replace Pat Kiernan? Here are previews for the ACC, the Patriot, the Big East, the America East, Colonial, and twoIndependents.
Alabama OL Commit Also Plays Lacrosse
And of course, the big man plays attack and he’s a scorer. When does a guy like this pick lacrosse over football? 6’4″, 315 pound shooter? No thanks. Richie Petitbon also plays basketball at Gonzaga Prep outside of DC. MONSTER!
Desko on Cuse Scrimmages
More from Cuse… awesome stuff coming out on their program this year!
Who Doesn’t Love New Turf?
Hockey Goal, Lacrosse Style
https://youtu.be/WxCr6DTXtPU
Respect!
