HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, Va. -- Senior Ray O'Brien (Scituate, MA) totaled seven points on four goals and three assists, while senior Michael Leone (Vienna) scored four goals and added two assists and senior Ford Burke (Richmond) scored four goals to help lead Hampden-Sydney College to an 18-10 victory over Rhodes (TN) College, Saturday afternoon at Lewis C. Everett Stadium.

"This was a really good win for our team. Rhodes is talented and extremely well coached, and will likely be atop the SAA to compete for their conference championship," said head coach Jason Rostan '03. "We are proud of the focus and relentless grind from our team today to come up with an important in-region win."

The Lynx got the scoring started in the first quarter, getting two goals in under a minute of game time to take an early 2-0 lead. It took until 6:01 left in the quarter for the Tigers to cut into the lead, but it was O'Brien beating his defender and going straight downhill toward the goal, and pulling off the bounce shot to cut the lead. Junior Campion White (Apex, NC) evened the game at two with 1:28 left, as he regained his footing after making two spin moves and fired a shot from distance past the goalie to bring the scoring to a close in 2-2 game.

Senior Patrick Saunders (Alexandria) led off the scoring in the second quarter, using a few shoulder shakes to freeze his defender and come all the way over the top to finish the shot just 29 seconds into the quarter. 35 seconds after the opening goal, the Tigers struck again, this time on the man-up advantage as Leone got the ball on the left side of the goal and found a wide-open Burke on the right side to swat the ball into the back of the net. Sophomore Patrick Hanes (Raleigh, NC) got his first of the game on the man-up advantage, as O'Brien found him wide-open up top from behind the net and he rifled a shot passed the goalie. It took just 19 seconds to make it four goals in the second quarter, as off a save by goalie Peter Smith (Warrenton) he got the ball into the hands of junior Gaines Weis (Richmond) who took it the length of the field before finding Leone for the easy finish. Rhodes was able to claw one back, scoring a goal with 1:16 left in the quarter to make it a 6-3 game at the half.

H-SC wasted no time getting on the scoreboard in the third quarter, as it struck 11 seconds into the quarter as junior Conor Kilfeather (Wyndmoor, PA) grabbed the ball off the face-off and found Leone who made the pass to an open Burke in front of the net for the goal. Burke struck again for his hat trick just over a minute later, beating his man and firing a left-handed shot into the top right corner for the goal. The Tigers made it three unanswered 30 seconds later, as Saunders threaded a pass to Leone on the left side, who made a quick move to beat the defender and score. The Lynx responded to three straight from the Tigers with two of their own to cut the lead to five. H-SC responded with a fourth Burke goal of the game, as he received the pass from Hanes and bounced it passed the goalie. White got his second of the game less than a minute later, muscling past his defender before unleashing a shot into the top left corner. O'Brien made it three unanswered, as he went from the right side of the field to the left, rolling around the back of the net and producing a right-handed shot on the left side net to push the lead to seven. Rhodes got on back to close the quarter, making it a 12-6 game in favor of H-SC.

The Tigers opened up the fourth quarter by scoring just over a minute into the game, as sophomore Cameron Young (Chantilly) picked up the turnover by Rhodes and found freshman Cameron Van Lunen (Southern Shores, NC) who took a few steps and wound up and fired past the keeper for his first career goal. Following two goals for the Lynx, it was O'Brien cementing his hat trick, as senior Thomas Harry (Charlottesville) picked up the loose ball off the face-off and drove down the field before dumping it off the O'Brien for the finish. 37 seconds later on the man advantage, Leone found the back of the net after receiving the threaded no-look pass from O'Brien. After a goal from Rhodes, Leone put home his fourth of the afternoon, as O'Brien threaded another ball to him and he faked out both a defender and the goalie to calmly finish into the open net. The Lynx answered before senior Matt Gemmell (Winston-Salem, NC) picked up a ground ball off the face-off and fought through a slash that hobbled him, taking it from midfield to score. The Tigers added one more to their tally with 2:37 left in the game, as Saunders picked up a turnover and found Gemmell on the other side of midfield, who made a quick pass to O'Brien to finish home the goal and make it an 18-10 win for H-SC.

O'Brien, Burke, and Leone each scored for goals apiece, with O'Brien adding three assists and Leone adding two. White scored two goals, and Hanes, Saunders, and Gemmell each scored one and assisted one. Kilfeather, Harry, and Weis each grabbed five ground balls, while Kilfeather caused two turnovers and Harry caused one. Smith earned his third win of the season, making nine saves on 19 shots on target.

The Tigers will stay at home on Tuesday, February 27, when they play host to Cabrini (PA) University in non-conference action. The game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. at Hellmuth-Gibson Field.