LEXINGTON, Va. --- The expectation was clear: go win the thing again.
From the moment the 11th-ranked University of Lynchburg men's lacrosse team got off the bus in Lexington, the Hornets were locked in on a repeat performance in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship.
Second-seeded Lynchburg proceeded to take care of business on Washington and Lee's Wilson Field with an 18-7 victory over No. 5-seeded Hampden-Sydney, pulling away in the second half for the program's ninth ODAC title and the third in the last four tournaments.
Kyle Lewis and Riley Mitchell scored four goals apiece for the Hornets, while Dylan Wolfe had a hat trick, and Marshall Rodegast caused three turnovers. Lewis added three assists to retake the ODAC's single-season record in that category with 59 this season – also a Hornet record – and became the ninth player in program history to reach 200 career points.
Both teams played stellar defense in the opening minutes until H-SC managed the game's first goal at the 10:50 mark in the first. Lewis got the Hornets on the board less than a minute later, taking a Mitchell feed and finishing with 9:32 left in the period. Lewis scored again, this time unassisted, to give Lynchburg its first lead of the game at the 6:17 mark.
Wolfe's first goal of the afternoon made it a 3-1 Hornet lead, and Lynchburg led 3-2 after a quarter of play. Following an H-SC goal that tied the game early in the second, the Hornets took advantage of a man-up opportunity with 8:01 until halftime as Mitchell finished thanks to a Dylan Wolfe assist. A.J. Nieves gave the Hornets some cushion just before halftime with an unassisted goal, and Lynchburg led 5-3 at intermission.
The second half was all Hornets as the Lynchburg midfield took the game over. Mitchell scored his second of the game to kick off a 7-2 Hornet run in the quarter, and he added another as the midfielders accounted for six Hornet goals in the 15-minute span. Wolfe, Nate Shafer, Ian McCarthy, and Mitchell again all found the back of the net; Lewis had the other for the Hornets to complete his hat trick.
Hampden-Sydney scored to open the fourth, but the final stanza was the Lynchburg show, too. Nieves scored his second of the game for the first of three straight from the Hornet offense as Lynchburg broke the game open. Lewis chipped in his fourth goal in the period and assisted Lynchburg's final three, dishing helpers to Ryan Kenney, Jake Rust, and Kenney again as the Hornets opened their lead in the final 6 minutes of the game.
Mitchell, Nieves, Rodegast and face-off specialist Michael Kraus – the sophomore went 34-for-57 in Lynchburg's two tournament games – earned all-tournament team honors.
The championship marked the ninth for the Lynchburg program, all since 2003, and the Hornets' 16th appearance in the conference tournament championship, the most of any program in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.
It was just the third meeting between the storied Lynchburg and Hampden-Sydney programs in the ODAC championship game; the Hornets are now 2-1 in those contests and have won six straight against the Tigers overall.
With the win, Lynchburg commands the ODAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament and will learn its draw when the NCAA announces the full tournament field at 9 p.m. EDT.
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ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
- George Gilbert, Roanoke
- Luca Docking, Roanoke
- Tommy McCowatt, Washington and Lee
- Nick Spagnoletti, Washington and Lee
- Bobby Clagett, Hampden-Sydney
- Sean Duffy, Hampden-Sydney
- Will Perry, Hampden-Sydney
- Michael Kraus, Lynchburg
- Riley Mitchell, Lynchburg
- A.J. Nieves, Lynchburg
- Marshall Rodegast, Lynchburg
--- This release is courtesy of the University of Lynchburg sports information department. ---
www.lynchburgsports.com