SALISBURY, N.C. – The Railsplitters jumped out to an 8-2 lead but the Catawba Indians surged in the second half to rally for a 13-12 win in South Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse action on Saturday afternoon at Shuford Stadium.
Looking to hand the Indians their first SAC loss of the season while stringing together back-to-back conference wins, Lincoln Memorial was in control late in the second quarter after a 5-0 push put them ahead 8-2. However, Catawba used a 6-1 run that carried midway into the third quarter to make it close, and later ended the match on a 3-0 spurt to steal the win.
The Indians held Lincoln Memorial scoreless for the final 10 minutes of regulation, tied the match at the 6:12 mark on a goal from Cole Fanzo and took the lead for good with a goal from Joe Barber with 2:58 left. Catawba then ran out the clock in the final minute to seal the victory.
The loss drops the Railsplitters to 3-7 overall and 1-3 in SAC play, while the Indians won their seventh consecutive match to improve to 7-2 overall and 4-0 in conference play.
Kyle Arcuri scored two goals and added an assist to become the second player in program history with 100 career goals. The senior Patchogue, N.Y., native joins
Adam Golia as the only other Railsplitter in the five-year history of the program to cross the century mark.
Robert Tucker and
Chris Tucker also finished with two goals and an assist apiece, while
Ian Cook produced three goals.
Joe Conklin chipped in one goal and one assist, while
Reggie Golfin and
Tanner Popovich contributed a single goal apiece.
Trenton Cameron made seven saves between the pipes for the Railsplitters, while his counterpart Kevin Geiger made 10 saves, including two clutch stops on shots from Arcuri and Cook in the final five minutes that could have altered the outcome.
Robert Morrison paced Catawba with three goals and two assists, Tony Bellotte added three goals on seven shots, and Barber had a goal and two assists. Fanzo had two goals, with both coming during the Indians' closing run in the fourth quarter. Four other players chipped in a goal apiece for the Catawba attack.
Quick Hits
- The Railsplitters were outshot 39-34, including a 16-6 edge in the third quarter. Lincoln Memorial did, however, finish with a 22-20 advantage in shots on goal. Arcuri led the team with seven shots, while Cook paced LMU with five shots on goal.
- The Railsplitters barely clipped the Indians on face-off wins, 15-14, while Catawba accounted for a narrow 35-34 edge in ground ball recoveries.
Hunter Clark led both of those efforts for LMU with 15 face-off wins and 12 ground ball pickups.
- Catawba improves to 4-1 all-time against Lincoln Memorial. It marked the Indians' second consecutive 13-12 win over the Railsplitters in Salisbury after winning by that same exact score in 2017.
Up Next
The Railsplitters return to the LMU Lacrosse Complex on Saturday, March 30 to host Wingate at 3 p.m.
