HIGH POINT, N.C. – With the clock running out in the second session of overtime, freshman attack Kevin Wanke found an open spot behind the High Point defense and put his shot in the back of the net to lift the Lafayette men’s lacrosse team to a double-overtime victory over High Point on Wednesday evening, 10-9.
The Leopards were unfazed by two High Point goals in the final 1:29 of regulation to force the overtime session. They were able to hold the Panthers scoreless in the first four-minute overtime period and Wanke connected on his opportunity to snap a five-game Lafayette losing streak.
Sophomore attack Sonny Round led the Leopards’ offense with three goals and one assist, while freshman Morgan Westby added two goals and two assists, and sophomore Brian Bock netted two scores. High Point was led by Matt Thistle’s two goals and two assists, as well as two scores from Mitchell Dupere.
Lafayette sophomore goalkeeper Jake Hyatt returned after a one-game hiatus due to illness, making 15 saves on the night. Hyatt improved his record to 3-6 on the year and extended his streak of games with double-digit saves to 11, dating back to the 2012 season.
High Point held the advantage in all the major statistical categories except the scoreboard. The Panthers edged out Lafayette in shots (37-33), ground balls (31-24), faceoffs (12-10) and turnovers (19-27).
The Leopards showed they came to play early as they netted the first three goals, followed by one High Point connection to take a 3-1 lead at the end of the first quarter. Two goals from Westby and Round, coupled with three tallies from the Panthers sent the teams into the locker room with Lafayette on top, 5-3.
The third was all High Point as Bucky Smith and Dupere notched the only tallies of the period to tie the game at five going into the fourth quarter.
Michael Messenger slotted one past Hyatt to open the final period, giving High Point its first lead of the game with 13:45 to play, 6-5. That lead held up for just 2:01 as Round, Bock and Westby put together a string of scores to put the Leopards on top, 8-6, with 5:40 remaining.
With 1:29 to play and Lafayette holding a 9-7 advantage, Bryce Parietti took a feed from Thistle and beat Hyatt to cut the lead to one. Less than a minute later, Thistle set up another score, this time to High Point’s Dan Lomas to tie the game at nine and send it to an overtime session.
After a scoreless first four minutes, Wanke came free at the 0:44 mark and sealed the victory for the Leopards. Lafayette moves to 3-7 on the year, while High Point drops to 2-8.
Next up for Lafayette is a Patriot League meeting with Holy Cross on April 6 at 1 p.m. inside Fisher Stadium.
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