LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Brevard College men's lacrosse team (0-4) erased a six-goal deficit in a back-and-forth non-conference tilt against the Randolph College Wildcats (1-6), scoring three goals in the final minute to draw within two goals. Randolph staved off the BC comeback attempt, earning a 15-13 victory on Tuesday evening in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Senior attacker Sam Duffie paced a Tornado attack that saw four different players get on the scoresheet, as the Columbia, South Carolina native put five goals in alongside a pair of assists for seven points. Evan Francois, a junior attacker from Charlotte, netted a career-high four goals while distributing a career-best two assists for six points, while Nate Ellen enjoyed a career performance with three goals and 17-of-27 faceoffs won, with a game-high 12 ground balls.
Freshman Jack Davis put a shot into the back of the nylon with an assist, while sophomore midfielder Trystan Wallace logged the first two assists of his Tornado career. Jacob Hernandez and Nate Stone also distributed the first assists of their collegiate playing careers.
Randolph was led by a pair of five-goal performances from Jack Dolan and Jake Helsley, with goalkeeper William Doyle making 12 saves on the evening.
Brevard snagged four more ground balls than Randolph in the matchup, while winning five more faceoffs and slightly outshooting the Wildcats. The hosts went 22-of-22 on clear attempts and forced five more turnovers than the Tornados.
The Wildcats got off to a 4-0 lead in the first quarter of play before Ellen and Duffie scored a pair of goals just 23 seconds apart from each other, cutting the deficit to a two-goal margin, 4-2. Dolan scored his first goal just before the first quarter concluded, giving Randolph a 5-2 lead heading into the second period of action.
Following a trio of consecutive Wildcat scores, Brevard stormed back, as Francois tallied his first two goals of the match – one being on the power-play – to cut into the Randolph lead, 8-4. The Tornados were able to follow those scores up with a pair of Ellen goals 31 seconds apart from each other, making the contest an 8-6 affair. Both sides battled through the last five-plus minutes of the first half goal-less, as Randolph held the slim lead at the intermission.
BC came out of the break firing on all cylinders, with Duffie and Francois going back-to-back to tie the match for the first time at eight goals apiece. After Randolph retook the lead briefly, Francois and Duffie handed the Tornados their first lead of the evening, 10-9, with 4:07 left to play in the third quarter.
Randolph utilized man-up situations towards the end of the third period, scoring three unanswered goals to retake a 12-10 advantage heading into the game's final quarter of action. The Wildcats capped off their scoring stretch, scoring three more goals through the first 10 minutes of the fourth stanza to push their lead to a 15-10 margin.
BC did not back down, however, as BC's senior Duffie scored twice alongside Davis' goal in the last minute of action to cut Randolph's lead to a two-goal, 15-13 margin. Randolph was able to hold on to earn their first victory of the season, holding off the late Tornado rally.
The Tornados are scheduled to return to USA South Conference play on Sunday as Brevard travels to LaGrange, Georgia for a 5 p.m. tilt against LaGrange College.
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-BC-