GAFFNEY, S.C. – With five different players tallying three or more points on Saturday, the third-ranked Limestone University men's lacrosse team set a program record for the most conference wins in a year while inching closer to a SAC Regular Season Championship with an 18-7 victory over Coker University.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Score: No. 3 Limestone 18, Coker 7
Records: No. 3 Limestone (13-1, 8-1), Coker (2-13, 2-7)
Location: Saints Field
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
 

• Senior Gavin Kesselring (Atlanta, Ga.) finished with five points on two goals and three assists
• Freshman Austin Lamoureux (Ottawa, Ontario) scored twice and dished out a pair of dimes
• Senior Owen Consoletti (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) logged a hat trick with three goals
• Junior Ethan Stannard (Caledon, Ontario) also posted a hat trick for the Blue and Gold
• Sophomore Chris Erneston IV (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) handed out three assists
• Senior Dorian Faster (New Freedom, Pa.) split the frame twice on the day
• Sophomore specialist Tim Ladner (Sandwich, Mass.) went 13-of-14 at the "X" with 13 groundballs
• Senior Michael Logan (Los Angeles, Calif.) won eight faceoff attempts and had eight groundballs
• Graduate defender Kendall Collins (Hurley, N.Y.) caused three turnovers for the Saints
• Making the start, junior keeper Cory Lyons (Reading, Mass.) gave up three goals in 43 minutes
• Limestone went 21-of-29 in the faceoff circle and held a 55-43 advantage in groundballs
• The Saints forced 17 of Coker's 28 turnovers and held them to an 0-for-4 clip in extra-man tries

 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
First Quarter
 
Limestone needed just 31 seconds to pull ahead, 1-0, as Stannard buried the first shot of the game off an assist from Kesselring. The Saints added two more quick goals as Lamoureux split the cage, set up by a feed from Erneston, before freshman Mike McGarry (Wilmington, Del.) put the Blue and Gold in front, 3-0.
 
Coker got on the board at the 11:13-mark of the first quarter, but junior Tom Szalkowski (Manorville, N.Y.) answered on the other end, taking a pass from Lamoureux to make it 4-1. The Cobras cut the margin in half, 4-2, but Limestone would respond with three straight tallies over the final 4:32 of the opening period.
 
Stannard scored twice during that stretch with Lamoureux assisting on the first before he snatched the ball away from a Coker defender and then beat the keeper one-on-one for his third goal of the quarter. Consoletti then closed out the scoring, making it 7-2, with an unassisted goal – his 14^th of the season.   
 
Second Quarter
 
After ending the first quarter with a goal, Consoletti opened the second in the same fashion, but Coker would break up the 4-0 scoring run midway through the quarter. However, Limestone answered a few ticks later with a goal from Faster before Kesselring gave the home team a 10-3 cushion at intermission.
 
Third Quarter
 
The Saints came out of the intermission firing on all cylinders, surging ahead with four goals over the first four minutes of the stanza. Kesselring tallied his second straight goal before Consoletti finished off his hat trick less than two minutes into the period to making it a 12-3 contest with 13:41 still showing on the clock.
 
Faster then split the cage as part of an overall 9-0 run, taking in an assist from Erneston, his third of the game, before senior Pierce Holohan (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) scored a few moments later. The Saints would continue to pour it on as sophomore Grant Rodgers (Columbus, Ohio) fired one over the keeper's shoulder off an assist by graduate Lance Olson (Brighton, Colo.) before Kesselring dished out two assists over a 35-second span.
 
Lamoureux benefited from Kesselring's first assist during that spurt with his second goal of the afternoon before junior Chris Haycock (Snoqualmie Pass, Wash.) deposited his second goal of the year to stake Limestone to a commanding 17-3 lead with 7:03 left. The Saints took their foot off the gas at that point.
 
Fourth Quarter
 
Leading 17-4 after Coker scored late in the third, Limestone utilized its incredible depth by using various combinations throughout the fourth quarter. The Cobras managed to string together a 4-0 overall run, but the first career goal by freshman Kevin Collins (Hurly, N.Y.) iced the 18-7 decision for the Blue and Gold.
 
TURNING POINT
 
Limestone raced out to a quick 3-0 lead over the first three minutes and would not look back from there as a 6-1 run over a 20-minute stretch in the opening half staked the home team to a 10-3 advantage at the break. The Saints then put the game out of reach with seven straight tallies to start the third period.
 
NOTABLES
 

• Limestone ran its overall win streak to nine straight games and are 13-1 on the season
• Combining for 23 regular season titles between the Deep South Conference and Conference Carolinas, the Blue and Gold are looking for their first South Atlantic Conference Championship
• The Saints had won 22 consecutive regular season crowns when that streak was halted last year
• With its eighth SAC win in 2022, Limestone set a new single-season record for conference wins
• The previous record was seven league wins which was reached on seven different occasions

 
UP NEXT
 
Limestone wraps up its SAC schedule when it hosts former Deep South Conference foe Catawba College on Wednesday, April 20, at 4 p.m. With a win, the Saints will clinch at least a share of the South Atlantic Conference Regular Season Championship and the top seed in the SAC Championship Tournament.