John Hopkins controlled Siena through out the course of the game; midway through the third quarter, Hopkins scored 4 goals in a span of 3 minutes to secure their lead.
Give credit to Siena, in the first half, they had figured out how to stop the Hopkins
scoring attack.
They did this by slowing up the pace of the game. Siena did not let
Hopkins gets into their offensive strategy. Before half time, the score for Hopkins was 6 and Siena 4.
Both teams came out of halftime looking to score. That was not the case. It was a grudge match until junior midfielder Rex Sanders sparked his team with his two goals. Those goals rejuvenated Hopkins on both sides of the ball. The Blue Jays started to play with a sense of urgency. The defense stiffened at any attack Siena tried.
Senior Mike Poppleton won 8- of 10 face offs and sophomore Drew Kennedy won 5- of –6 to control the possession of the game. Hopkins had out shot Siena 58-26. 58 shots by the Blue Jays were the most since March, 9, 2004.
Under coach Dave Pietramala, the Blue Jays in opening games are 14-3.
This was a very impressive win for the Blue Jays.
The High Point Panthers has finally won their first collegiate lacrosse game this season. They had knocked of a Towson team that was heavily favored to win this game. The Towson Tigers looked out of synched in the first half, but regrouped to make it an interesting game
The Panthers threw the first punch, scoring 2 goals and stopping the Tigers offense. Midway through the second quarter, the Tigers had tied the game 2-2. The momentum seemed to transfer to Towson, until 3 more goals were scored before the end of the half.
The halftime score was in favor of the Panthers 6-3.
Coach Shawn Nadelen must have sparked some type of energy into the Towson Tigers. They had come out and put pressure on the Panthers defense. The Tigers most have found a crack in the Panthers defense, because they had scored 4 goals to close the gap making it a close game.
Junior Andrew Hodgson made sure that the game was won in High Point’s favor. He had made a veteran move with the game on the line and scored on a fast break to secure first point’s first victory. Even though the score was close, Towson’s defense was lackadaisical. They could not slow the pace of the game.
This was the match up between the two coaches, who at one time played for UNC. This was the first time since April 13, 2005 that the Air Force Falcons hosted the Tar Heels.
It was a close game through out the first half. Both teams were equally matched up. Both of the defenses were amazing. It was a different story after the half. The Tar Heels out scored the Falcons 8-2 and kept up their intensity.
Freshman goalkeeper Kieran Burke had made 10-second half saves and UNC won 9- out –12 half-face offs. This was one of UNC’s strengths coming into the season. This win was a team effort. Carolina was very impressive. The Tar Heels stopped an Air Force offense that is known to score.
The Tar Heels had out shot the Falcons 49-34. Turnovers were a big part of UNC’s win. The Tar Heels had forced 8 turnovers. The turnovers killed the Air Force momentum. Every time the Falcons had scored to close the scoring gap, UNC forced a turnover.
Even though this was a bitter sweet loss, the Falcons can smile at their achievement. They had numerous opportunities to score; they had to play from behind most of the game.
The final score for this game was Tar Heels 16 and Air force 8.
