Lacrosse Upsets Queens - Advances to SAC Finals

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Lions' lacrosse team upset top-seeded Queens University 12-11 in the semifinal round of the of the 2015 South Atlantic Conference Men's Lacrosse Championships. The fourth-seeded Lions advance to the championship game on Saturday afternoon and will face the winner of the Coker/Lenoir-Rhyne contest. Queens fell to 8-8 overall while Mars Hill improved to 7-6 on the season.

Saxon Weil and Hunter Maggs led the Lions today with three goals each. Jimmy McBride added two goals and three assists, while Anthony Malcom totaled two goals and one assists. Jack Grinewich recorded 11 saves in the win.

Garrett Chan and Spencer Corkery led the Royals today with three goals apiece, while Casey Hock and Evan Farkas completed the game with two goals and two assists each. Face-off specialist Jonathan Paige totaled 16 ground balls to lead all on the field, and won 21-of-25 face-offs.

Mars Hill would score the first goal of the day with 8:26 on the clock, but a pair of Queens goals followed to give the Royals a 2-1 advantage heading into the second quarter. The Royals then opened the second period with a goal 15 seconds into play to go ahead 3-1 before the Lions went on a 4-0 run to take over, 5-3. A goal from Chan with 20 seconds to play would bring Queens to within one, 5-4, at the half.

Connor Morgan got the Royals going with a goal 14 seconds into the third starting a 3-1 push that helped Queens reclaim the lead, 7-6. However a 3-0 spurt from the Lions would put Mars Hill up 9-7 heading into the final quarter of action.

Back-to-back goals scored by Corkery and Chan at the start of the fourth knotted the game at 9-9, but the Lions would once again find a three unanswered goals to put a three-goal margin between themselves and the Royals.

Corkery's final goal of the game with 1:40 to play sparked some life into the Royals' offense as time ticked off the clock, and a goal from Farkas would follow with 39 seconds on the clock giving the game a 12-11 score. Queens found their chance to force overtime thanks to Paige winning the final face-off of the day, but Mars Hill's Grinewich would come up with a huge save on the Royals' final shot to secure the victory for his team.

Mars Hill edged the Royals in shots today, 34-31, while Queens won the battle for ground balls, 34-18. Saturday's championship game will be played at 2 p.m. at Dickson Field.