Lacrosse Tops Coker to Clinch SAC Tournament Spot

MARS HILL, N.C.- Jimmy McBride scored a season-high seven goals as the Mars Hill lacrosse team defeated Coker 17-7 on Saturday afternoon at Meares Stadium and Ammons Family Athletic Center. Mars Hill improves to 7-6 overall and 5-2 in the South Atlantic Conference. Coker drops to 6-7 overall and 4-3 in the league.

McBride led the Lions with seven goals, followed by six goals from Ryan Sage. Adam Zulak, Brian Pieklik, Hunter Maggs and Cody Garcia each scored a goal. Zulak had a team-high four assists, with A.J. Seip recording three helpers. Malcolm, McBride and Sage each had two assists, with Kevin Kolipinski helping on one goal.

The Lions took a 1-0 lead 47 seconds into the game when Sage scored his first of the game. McBride added two goals less than a minute apart for a 3-0 Lion lead with 8:27 to play in the first quarter. McBride scored his third straight goal at the 4:34 mark, with Sage giving Mars Hill a 5-0 lead with 3:01 to play in the opening stanza. Coker got on the board with a goal by Andy Campos with three seconds to play.

McBride added his fourth goal of the game 20 seconds into the quarter to put the Lion lead back at five. Coker answered with a Shane Wilson goal with 12:18 to play to make the score 6-2. Garcia scored his fourth goal of the season with 11:37 to play in the half, followed by a Sage goal at the 10:03 mark and a Pieklik goal 14 seconds later to give the Lions a 9-2 lead. Campos scored his second goal of the game at the 3:20 mark before the teams traded goals just over 30 seconds apart. Mars Hill held a 10-4 lead at halftime.

The Lions enjoyed an eight goal lead with 11 minutes to play in the third quarter after Maggs found the back of the net for the fifth time this season. Coker scored two of the quarter's final three goals to cut, but Mars Hill held a 13-6 lead after 45 minutes.

Sage pushed the lead back to eight after his fifth goal of the game with 13:13 to play. McBride gave the Lions a nine goal cushion with his sixth goal of the game with 8:33 to play. Sage pushed the Lion advantage to 10 with a goal with 6:01 to play before McBride scored his final goal of the game with 5:24 remaining for a 17-6 advantage. Coker capped the scoring with a Ryan Maurer goal with 48 seconds to play.

In his final home goal, Patrick McMahon faced 22 shots and made 15 saves. Tim Ryan made 13 saves on 30 shots.

Mars Hill honored five seniors prior to the game. Jon Avery, Kevin Kolipinski, McMahon, David Veitch and Zulak won the 40^th game in the past four seasons for the class of 2014.

Mars Hill will play Lenoir-Rhyne in the SAC Tournament on Thursday.