Lions Click On All Cylinders In Win Over Shorter

MARS HILL, N.C. – Freshman attacker Connor Fernandes tallied a career-high five goals to lead the Mars Hill men's lacrosse team to a convincing 18-6 win over visiting Shorter University on Saturday afternoon at Meares Stadium. The Lions improved to 2-1 on the season, while SU dropped to 0-4.

Dima Ferreira and Alex Lipsky added three goals and three assists each, while Nathan Stewart collected a game-high eight groundballs. Defender Kyle Dozzi caused three turnovers and picked up three grounders in the win. Faceoff specialist Addison Sowell won 62% (13-21) of his attempts, while Quinlan Blackmon took 5-of-6 at the face for the Lions.

Dozzi and Ferreira went back-to-back in the first quarter to give the Lions an early 2-0 lead just halfway into the opening period. However, Shorter came right back with a pair of goals to knot the contest 2-all at the 4:09 mark. Mars Hill closed out the period with a 3-0 run to lead 5-2 after one.

That run continued to the tune of 7-0 as Keaton Lissel was set up by a beautiful pass from Anthony Matusiak to give the Blue and Gold a commanding 9-2 lead. The Hawks added a man-up goal to stop the run, but Lipsky ended the half with a score to send MHU into the locker room leading 10-3.

The Lions continued to push the tempo to open the second half, running off five straight and seven-of-eight to gain their biggest lead (17-4) following a buzzer-beating goal from Ferreira to end the third. Shorter outscored the Lions 2-1 in the fourth, but it was too little, too late as MHU cruised to the 18-6 finish.

Mars Hill held a dominating 43-28 mark on shots as well as 47-24 on groundballs. The Lions were a perfect 16-16 on clear attempts, while forcing 19 turnovers by the Hawks. Ryan Kearney (2-1) earned the win for Mars Hill, playing 45 minutes in goal and collecting nine saves to go along with his five groundballs. Garry Robinson (0-4) was tagged with the loss after netting all 60 minutes in goal and allowing 18 goals and making 12 saves.

Mars Hill will return to action on Saturday, March 4, opening South Atlantic Conference play at Wingate. Faceoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.