HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, Va. – A weather delay late in the second quarter could not stop the nationally-ranked Hampden-Sydney College lacrosse team as the Tigers picked up a 14-5 win over Randolph-Macon in the 2021 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals. The Tigers led 4-3 at the half but scored nine unanswered goals in the third and fourth quarters to take an overwhelming lead. R-MC concludes its season with a 6-8 record.
Senior Jack Hayden/Apex, NC opened up the scoring for H-SC just over a minute and half into the off a pass from classmate Charlie Doetzer/Holly Springs, NC. Junior Bobby Clagett/Brandywine, MD extended the lead with 9:44 left in the first quarter off a pass from freshman Ray O'Brien/Scituate, MA. The Yellow Jackets responded with a pair of goals, tying the game up at 2-2 with 6:38 left in the period. However, Hayden scored his second goal of the game with 4:21 left and senior Jake O'Brien/Scituate, MA got an assist from Clagett at 1:39 to give the Tigers a 4-2 lead after one period.
The second quarter was a relatively quiet and long period for both teams. Neither team had scored in the period when with 6:20 left, lightning in the area forced both teams to retreat to their locker rooms for nearly 50 minutes. When the teams returned it was Randolph-Macon who scored the lone goal of the quarter and pulled the Yellow Jackets within one at 4-3 in the Tigers favor at a shortened halftime.
Senior Reilly French/Frederick, MD started a string of nine-straight goals for H-SC with 13:36 left in the third off a pass from Hayden. The Tigers also got third quarter goals from Clagett (10:43, 7:56), senior Jared Medwar/Apex, NC (6:57), and junior Sean Duffy/Ambler, PA (6:20).
H-SC picked up the fourth quarter where it left off in the third. With a 9-3 lead already in hand, Medwar continued the scoring run with 13:30 left in the game. Jake O'Brien then rattled off three-straight goals for the Tigers in a 2:09 span. He found the back of the cage at 11:57, 10:46, and 9:48. R-MC finally stopped the run with a goal at 5:55 left in the fourth. With just 16 second left in the game senior Palmer Jones/Chester took a pass from freshman Patrick Saunders/Alexandria and scored to put the lead back at 14-4. The Yellow Jackets took the resulting face off and scored with 10 seconds left before falling with a final score of 14-5.
Both Jake O'Brien and Clagett each had five points for the Tigers with 4g, 1a and 3g, 2a, respectively. Seven different H-SC players scored in the game and eight different ones offered up an assist.
Junior Will Perry/Roanoke made nine saves in the win while playing 56:43 of the contest. Sophomore Nick Morgan/Issaquah, WA led the team with three caused turnovers with both Jake O'Brien and junior Presley Miller/Annapolis, MD each forcing two. 10 different Tigers forced at least one Yellow Jacket turnover. Sophomore Nick Thompson/Midlothian went 15-21 from the X while scooping up a game-high nine ground balls.
With the win, the No. 14/16 Tigers advance to the ODAC Tournament semifinals where they will have a rematch against No. 4 Lynchburg on Thursday, May 6. The two teams played on Saturday, May 1 with the Hornets scoring late for a 11-9 win. Game time in Lynchburg is scheduled for 7 p.m. from Shellenberger Field.
