Queens, Lenoir-Rhyne Advance to SAC Men's Lacrosse Championship Finals

No. 1 Queens 13, No. 4 Coker 5

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte men's lacrosse team defeated Coker College 13-5 this afternoon to advance to the 2014 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Men's Lacrosse Championship game on Saturday at 2p.m.

The Royals, seeded first heading into today's game, were led by SAC Player of the Year Garrett Chan who finished the game with four goals. Attacker Casey Hock recorded a hat trick and one assist in the win, while attacker Matthew Michael notched one goal and three assists. Midfielder Evan Farkas added one goal and an assist.

Hock got the Royals going in the opening period netting back-to-back goals to start a 3-0 run. The Cobras would notch their first point at 4:21 with a goal from Shane Wilson making the score 4-1 heading into the second.

Queens would shut the Cobras out in the second quarter while putting four balls in the back of the net to head into the locker room with a 7-1 lead. Chan scored twice in the period.

The Royals carried their run into the second half zipping four more into the net to increase their lead to 10, 11-1, with 6:29 on the clock. However, the Cobras responded this time finding some offense in the stick of Wilson again as the sophomore attacker scored two consecutive goals to bring his team within eight of the Royals, 11-3. Mike Martiello would score Coker's final goal of the period with three seconds on the clock.

The Royals stayed patient in their offense in the final quarter holding a comfortable lead. Goals from Justin Kestler and Chan gave Queens a 13-4 lead which held until Andy Campos of Coker put one in the net just before the horn sounded.

Queens outshot Coker 41-26 and won the battle for ground balls 32-20. Face-off specialist Kenneth Stryker dominated, winning 14-of-20.

Defensively, the Royals were led by Tim Cloud and Patrick Murphy who finished with five and two caused turnovers, respectively. Eric Dolan picked up the win in goal collecting 10 saves.

The Cobras were led by Wilson who finished the game with a hat trick. Martiello totaled three points on one goal and two assists, while Campos finished with a goal and an assist.

The Royals will return to Dickson Field to for the championship game Saturday at 2 p.m.

No. 2 Lenoir-Rhyne 15, No. 3 Mars Hill 6

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Lenoir-Rhyne University was able to advance to the 2014 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Men's Lacrosse Championship game after defeated Mars Hill University 15-6 this evening at Dickson Field. The Bears will face top seeded Queens University of Charlotte on Saturday at 2 p.m.

The Bears got off to a strong start scoring three unanswered goals in the first three minutes of action. Mars Hill would answer with two goals bringing them to within one of L-R, but a goal from Jon Hanlon late in the period gave the second seeded Bears a two-goal advantage heading into the second quarter.

The Lions found success early in the second period scoring 35 seconds into play. Unfortunately, that would be their only goal in the quarter as the Bears put together a 5-0 run to close the half.

The Bears would see their largest lead of the day following a pair of goals from Mike and Jon Hanlon in the third period which gave L-R an eight goal lead, 11-3. A goal from Mars Hill's Ryan Sage at 11:14 ended the Lions' scoring drought. They then closed the period outscoring the Bears 2-1 to head into the final 15 minutes of regulation trailing 12-5.

The Lions' luck would run out in the fourth period as they were unable to find the back of the net. L-R was able to score three more before the final horn sounded, advancing to the title game.

Sam Ashton led the Bears with four goals this evening, while Jon Hanlon added a hat trick. Jay Goldsmith and Ned Kaish netted two apiece, and Mike Hanlon totaled four points on one goal and three assist. Goalkeeper Alex Squires finished with nine saves.

Sage led the Lions recording a hat trick on the night, while Anthony Malcolm contributed two goals. Patrick McMahon took the loss in the cage after getting six stops.