KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Adam Golia tallied 11 points and
Kyle Arcuri piled up 10 to power the Railsplitters to a 24-4 destruction of Davis & Elkins in the regular-season finale on Saturday afternoon at Knoxville Catholic High School. Lincoln Memorial (13-3) captured its third consecutive win to head into postseason play with some momentum, while the Senators (0-12) finish winless for the second time in three seasons.
With his third double-digit point performance of the season and first since scoring a program-record 13 against Palm Beach Atlantic on February 8, Golia, who racked up six goals and five assists in the match, pushed his South Atlantic Conference-leading total to 101 to record only the 18th 100-point season in the history of NCAA Division II men's lacrosse. He's the first to accomplish that feat since Merrimack's Gregory Rogowski tallied 108 points during the 2006 campaign.
Arcuri accumulated a career-high 10 points on six goals and four assists while five other players produced multiple points in the landslide victory.
Dylan Neisler and
Billy Kopsky had two goals and two assists apiece, while
Anthony Teresky handed out four assists.
Chad Walters matched a career-high mark with five points on three goals and two assists, while
Nick Borriello had two goals and an assist. Three other LMU players had a goal.
Matthew Dyck and Aidan O'Dwyer were the only Davis & Elkins player with multiple points. Dyck had two goals on a team-leading eight shots while O'Dwyer had a goal and an assist.
The Railsplitters outshot the Senators 53-21, finishing with an 18-2 edge in the first quarter to race out to a commanding 8-0 lead. Lincoln Memorial also produced a 41-27 edge in ground ball recoveries and went 23-for-32 on face-offs.
All three LMU goalies made an appearance in the match.
Michael Kessler made the start and earned the win after allowing just one goal with two saves over 24:22 minutes.
Jeffrey Handman notched nine saves and gave up three goals in 27:55 of work, while
Kyle Deriemacker played the final 7:43 and made two saves over that span.
Six different players scored for the Railsplitters in the first quarter alone. Golia had two goals and assisted on two more, including Walters' marker with 22 seconds remaining that gave Lincoln Memorial a commanding 8-0 lead.
The Railsplitters extended their lead to 9-0 after Golia tallied his third goal of the match at 8:22 of the second quarter. Davis & Elkins scored twice over a three-minute stretch to trim LMU's lead to 10-2 with 4:44 remaining in the half, but the Railsplitters scored six unanswered goals over a run that bled into the third quarter to expand their lead to 16-2.
Kyle Durec put the Senators on the board with 11:25 left in the third to end a long scoring drought, but Arcuri scored four times to power a 5-0 run that gave the Railsplitters a 21-3 cushion through three.
Davis & Elkins scored early in the fourth quarter but the Railsplitters closed out the match with goals from Golia, Walters and
Chris Tucker to complete the 20-goal victory.
Lincoln Memorial now prepares to host a South Atlantic Conference tournament match for the first time in program history. The Railsplitters earned the No. 3 seed for next week's SAC Championship by virtue of their 6-2 conference record and will host Coker in the quarterfinal round at the LMU Lacrosse Complex at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, April 24.