HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, Va. -- No. 20 Hampden-Sydney College used 17 different scorers to take a 25-4 victory over Ferrum College in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) on Saturday, April 15 on Fulton Field at Lewis C. Everett Stadium. The game marked senior day for the Tigers as they honored 13 seniors prior to the contest. Senior Max Koontz (Winston-Salem, NC) led all scorers with four goals to go along with one assist. Senior Nick Sheer (Lakeville, MN) scored three goals to go along with an assist. Senior Marshall Flagg (Williamsburg) and sophomore Stuart Kyle (Leesburg) each scored a pair of goals. Junior Luke Helfgott (Arlington) scored two goals and added three assists.
Koontz got the scoring started on senior day at the 11:30 mark of the first quarter, taking the ball from behind the net to right in front of the keeper for the goal. Koontz doubled his tally less than a minute later, as senior Kevin Marshall (Mt. Pleasant, SC) found him wide open in the middle of the field for the finish. Freshman Patrick Hanes (Raleigh, NC) provided the next goal finishing off the pass from junior Patrick Saunders (Alexandria). Koontz netted his hat trick after just seven and a half minutes of action, as he intercepted a pass on the clear attempt and faked the goalie one way before calmly finishing the other way. In transition with senior Nick Morgan (Issaquah, WA) leading the way, delivered a perfect pass to sophomore Gaines Weis (Richmond) who used the space he had to fire it home for the goal. Helfgott received the ball behind the net and spotted his teammate junior Michael Leone (Vienna) wide open in front the net, and split two defenders with the pass as Leone used a quick release on the shot to beat the keeper for the sixth goal of the game. Helfgott made it two assists in 23 seconds, as he found a cutting junior Matt Gemmell (Winston-Salem, NC) for the easy finish. Helfgott then decided to get in the scoring action, making a cut into the middle where junior Ray O'Brien (Scituate, MA) found him for the goal. O'Brien then netted his first, as he made a fake and the middle of the field opened up for him as he took it to the goal and beat the goalie. Freshman Davis Mack (Henrico) got his first goal of the game, as Leone found him in the middle of the field and Mack shot an underhand rocket into the top of the net to make it 10 unanswered. Marshall got into the goal column with under a minute left to go in the first quarter, as he got the feed from O'Brien on the right side and went behind the back with his shot to make it 11-0. The Panthers got one back at the buzzer, scoring as time expired to pull the game to 11-1 in favor of H-SC after 15 minutes.
Ferrum made it two unanswered as it opened the second quarter with a goal, before senior Talmadge Hope (Richmond) finished on the man-up advantage after getting the ball in the middle of a no-look feed from O'Brien. Freshman Connor Erlenbach (Midlothian) got his first goal of the game, after zig-zagging through two defenders to eventually beat the goalie. Less than a minute later, Sheer got his first of the contest, as Erlenbach found Sheer on the opposite side of the field for the goal. Koontz got his fourth of the afternoon with an amazing finish, as Sheer led the break he found Koontz in front of the net, who went between the legs for the goal. Sheer got his second, as in transition freshman Ben Lagow (Virginia Beach) made a pass to the right side for Sheer, who took a few steps before putting the ball just inside the left post. Kyle scored two goals in the span of three minutes, first scoring after Helfgott found him in the middle of the field and second after he picked up the ground ball of a Koontz shot that was saved and beat the goalie. Sheer closed out the scoring in the second, as junior Jacob Renaud (Schenectady, NY) threaded a pass between four defenders to find Sheer, who then rifled it passed the goalie to give H-SC a 19-2 lead going into the half.
Flagg opened the scoring in the third quarter, as he split two defenders to score his first of the afternoon. Renaud got into the scoring column as he faked a pass up top that helped him beat his man to the right and he took it all the way to the net for the goal. Flagg got his second of the day on the man-up advantage, as Mack found him up top with the pass and he let it rip to beat the goal at the left post. In transition, Koontz found Helfgott alone and behind the defense and he only needed to turn and pick his spot to beat the goalie and cap a 12-goal run between the second and third quarters.
The Panthers clawed back to start the fourth, scoring in less than a minute to cut the lead to 23-3. Senior Ethan Solis (Fairfax Station) scored his first career goal to answer Ferrum in the fourth. After scoring twice and having it taken back by crease violations, as his defender went for the steal Solis snuck by and beat the goalie for the goal. Ferrum got another back before sophomore Charlie Roberts (Easton, MD) picked up the ground ball off the face-off and fired a shot that beat the goalie to close the game out, as H-SC took a 25-4 victory.
The Tigers will be back in action on Wednesday, April 19 at Randolph College in ODAC action. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at WildCat Stadium in Lynchburg.
