HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, Va. -- Senior Ray O'Brien (Scituate, MA) scored four goals and senior Michael Leone (Vienna) scored three goals and added an assist to help lead Hampden-Sydney College to a 12-11 win over Ohio Wesleyan University, Saturday afternoon at Lewis C. Everett Stadium.

"Great battle today, I thought it was a hard-fought, clean, and well-played game both ways," said head coach Jason Rostan '03. "Our team did a great job taking control of the game and closing with a big win for our season."

The Tigers opened the scoring in the first quarter, as senior Patrick Saunders (Alexandria) beat his man down the right wing and fired a sidearm shot past the goalie. The Tigers made it two straight, as Leone found O'Brien for the goal just over three minutes later. The Battling Bishops got one back before senior Ford Burke (Richmond) found O'Brien cutting for an incredible backhanded finish. Ohio Wesleyan got one back to make it a 3-2, but with 3:30 remaining in the quarter, junior Campion White (Apex, NC) dropped his defender with a spin move and fired a shot into the top of the net to make it 4-2 in favor of H-SC after 15 minutes of action.

The Battling Bishops opened the scoring in the second quarter, scoring 22 seconds into the quarter to cut the lead to one. H-SC responded just 20 seconds later, as junior Gaines Weis (Richmond) picked up a blocked shot and found junior Conor Kilfeather (Wyndmoor, PA) streaking downfield, making a pass to find Burke who beat his man with a quick move and fired a left-handed shot past the goalie. Ohio Northern responded, scoring two before the Tigers responded with two of their own, first with sophomore Davis Mack (Henrico) finding Leone at a tight angle and he snuck it into the near post to give the Tigers back the lead. Leone struck again just over a minute later, beating his defender and putting home a sidearm finish to make it 7-5 going into halftime.

Tigers kept it rolling to start the second half, as freshman Trey Black (Pinehurst, NC) made a pass to O'Brien, who made a quick head fake to freeze his defender and allow him to gain a step and fire the shot home. Following a reset, Weis took the ball all the way from midfield straight to the goal and beat the keeper to push the lead to four. Burke, following a restart behind the net, snuck the ball between two sticks to O'Brien who quickly released the bounce shot past the goalie to make it five unanswered goals for H-SC between the second and third quarters. Ohio Wesleyan clawed back, ending the quarter with two unanswered to make it 10-7 after 45 minutes played.

The Tigers opened the scoring in the fourth on a mistake by Ohio Wesleyan, as Leone turned the goalie over right in front of the crease and picked the loose ball up before the goalie to finish into an empty net. The Tigers got the lead back to five as White made a short pass to his right to Burke who had all kinds of space to wind up and rifle a shot past the goalie. Ohio Wesleyan answered again, scoring four straight with the final goal coming with eight seconds left to cut the H-SC lead to one. On the face-off, Kilfeather battled to win the ball, running away from the defense for the final eight seconds to secure the 12-11 victory.

O'Brien was the leading scorer in the game with four and Leone tallied three goals and one assist. Burke scored two goals and added two assists and White scored one goal and had one assist. Saunders and Weis each scored a goal and Kilfeather, Mack, and Black had an assist. Senior Thomas Harry (Troy) caused five turnovers and grabbed five ground balls. Kilfeather grabbed six ground balls and caused three turnovers, and freshman Jack Duffy (Ambler, PA) caused two turnovers.

Senior Peter Smith (Warrenton) picked up his seventh win of the season, making eight saves on 19 shots on target.

The Tigers will be back in action when they open Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) play with a home matchup against Randolph College. The game is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. at Lewis C. Everett Stadium.