WINTER PARK, Fla. – Finding his stride, Saint Leo senior attackman George Proechel led the team four goals as the Saint Leo men's lacrosse team defeated the Rollins College Tars 14-9 in Deep South Conference action on Thursday evening at Barker Family Stadium and Cahall-Sandspur Field on the campus of Rollins College.
The Lions advance their record to 2-2, and 2-1 in Deep South Conference action, while the Tars drop to a mark of 0-4, and 0-2 in the DSC.
Behind Proechel's four-goal night, Ryan Burke, Kevin Hutchinson, and Robert Hutchinson tallied two goals apiece. Tom horn, Dylan Yonts, Chris Caiazza, and Chad Marino placed the ball into the back of the cage one time each, while Tom Horn led the team in assists with a game-high three. Burke and Yonts added assists to their overall performance, with Matt Obermeyer and Sean Connolly getting tabbed for one assist apiece, as well.
The Tars were headed up by Chriss Ross, who matched Proechel in goals with four. Jack Dever earned a goal and an assist on the evening, with a total of eight Rollins players contributing to the scoring efforts on the evening.
The Lions sprinted out to a dominant lead in the first quarter, shutting out the Tars to post a score of 5-0 after the opening 15 minutes of play. The Green and Gold went on to outscore Rollins 4-1 in the second stanza, setting the score at 9-1 at the half.
Proechel found the back of the cage just 18 seconds into the third quarter, but Rollins answered back with a goal from A.J. Gogan under a minute later, setting the score at 10-2 in favor of the Lions. Yonts scored off of an assist from Horn with 11:48 on the clock, giving Saint Leo a nine-goal lead, but the Tars were not about to back down so easy.
Rollins rattled off five straight goals to close out the third quarter, pulling to within four of the Lions with a score of 11-7. After a slow start to the final period for both teams, the Tars found the back of the net to pull within three, 11-8, with 7:30 to go in the game.
The Lions got themselves back into the game, ripping three straight shots between the pipes to pull back into a six point advantage, 14-8, with 2:35 left in the game. Rollins saw a goal from Chris Ross with 1:01 remaining on the clock, but the Tars were unable to overcome the shortfall, giving the Lions their second-straight conference victory.
Saint Leo dominated the stat sheet, leading the game in saves, 11-8, and ground balls 40-27. Thanks to a solid night by middie John Laronga at the faceoff-x, Saint Leo won 19-of-26, with Laronga earning a .760 win percentage as he won 19-of-25 attempts. The Lions were successful on 14-of-17 clear attempts, but were 0-for-2 on man-up situations.
The Lions return to action on Wednesday, March 6, when they host Catawba College in Deep South Conference action. Game time against the Indians is slated for 7 p.m. at University Turf Field. Fans who cannot make it to the game can catch all of the action live on the Saint Leo Sports Network at SaintLeoLions.com. For the latest news, updates, and information, fans can 'Like' the Lions on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
