Lynchburg Headed to National Semifinals with Win Over Salisbury

Lynchburg Headed to National Semifinals with Win Over Salisbury

LYNCHBURG, Va. --- The Lynchburg College men's lacrosse team advanced to the first Final Four in program history with a 13-11 victory over Salisbury University Wednesday evening in the quarterfinals of the 2015 NCAA Division III Championship Tournament. Junior midfielder Dane Angell scored a game-high four times for the Hornets.

Lynchburg senior Hunter Thompson scored the first goal of the game, and the teams exchanged two goals apiece the remainder of the quarter for a 3-2 LC edge.

The Sea Gulls netted two of the first three goals of the second period, but Lynchburg scored five-straight times (from five different players) to assume a 9-4 edge. SU answered just before the break to cut the advantage to 9-5 at halftime.

Lynchburg increased the lead to 11-5 with two tallies in the third quarter, but two Salisbury goals cut the lead to 11-7 early in the fourth period. Aaron Murphyand Chris Hower sandwiched an SU goal with tallies to push the lead to 13-8 before Salisbury rallied with under six to play. The Sea Gulls scored three times in a four-minute span and trailed by just two with 2:15 to play, but the LC defense held firm in the closing minutes to seal the historic win.

Angell had three goals in the first half and one in the third period to tie his career-high for scores in a game. Austin Stewart contributed two goals and two assists and Murphy also had two goals. Chris CamarcaJoey Giannaras and Daniel Owens also scored for Lynchburg and Todd Galvin had an assist.

Carson Kalama had a hat trick for Salisbury (17-5), while Sean Fitzgerald had a score and three assists. James Burton, Christian Ottenritter and Thomas Cirillo each had a goal and an assist and Andrew Ternahan grabbed seven ground balls for the visitors.

The Hornets (20-2) will travel to Gettysburg College in a Final Four match-up on Saturday, with a 4:30 p.m. start. The winner advances to the NCAA Division III Title game in Philadelphia Sunday, May 24. The Hornets have reached the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament three times, in 2005, 2013 and 2015.

--- This release is courtesy of the Lynchburg College sports information department. ---
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