Sun May 23 2021 | Matt Hamilton | College
COURTESY LENOIR-RHYNE ATHLETICS
Lenoir-Rhyne’s dream season will continue into the NCAA Division II Men’s national championship game the Bears’ first appearance in the final in program history.
Before Lenoir-Rhyne could book its ticket to Hartford, it had to get past South Atlantic Conference rival Wingate for a second time this season. Thanks to six goals and an assist from star attackman Eric Dickinson, the Bears pulled away for a comfortable 18-10 win over the Bulldogs in the NCAA semifinals.
Four different scorers helped Lenoir-Rhyne, playing at home in front of a raucous crowd, jump out to a 4-1 lead at the end of the first quarter. Dickinson had two goals in the second quarter, a back-and-forth period that saw the Bears emerge with an 8-4 halftime lead.
Release the McCracken.
Freshman Colten McCracken delivered the most dramatic finish of the weekend, sending Lenoir-Rhyne to the Men’s DII Semifinals with 16-15 overtime comeback win Sunday.
He dodged to outside the hash marks, and with two Tampa defenders on him rolled inside to his left and scored with four seconds left in overtime on a jumping twister while taking a hit.
His teammates came storming onto the field, running around their home Moretz Stadium after capping a comeback that saw the Bears down as many as five goals.
Eric Dickinson (2G, 4A), Kyle Hatcher (4G), Bryce Reece (4G) and Toron Eccleston (2G, 2A) led the Bears offensively. Zach Bodeau got the better of an elite face-off matchup, winning 19-of-34, and goalie Noah Johnson made 12 saves.
D-II Men s Rewind: Recapping the Opening Rounds of the NCAA Tournament usalaxmagazine.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from usalaxmagazine.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Mon Apr 12 2021 | Matt Hamilton | College
PHOTO VIA TWITTER / @WingateLacrosse
Conference races are starting to heat up in Division II men’s lacrosse, and the South Atlantic Conference just got a lot more interesting.
Wingate got six goals from Bobby Padden to lead 16-10 entering the final quarter when Lenoir-Rhyne dropped five straight goals, including three in the final two minutes, to make a comfortable game seem much less so. Either way, the Bulldogs pulled into a tie for first in the SAC at 8-1.
Also in the SAC, Limestone has now won three straight games, including an 11-5 effort against Queens. The Saints now sit at 7-3 in conference, just a half-game behind the team they just took down.
The Lenoir-Rhyne Men’s Lacrosse Team saw a 13 game overall win streak and an 11 game winning streak against South Atlantic Conference opponents broken in a one-goal loss against Wingate on Wednesday night, 16-15.
Mitchell Linklater scored just 52 seconds into the game and Tommy Aguilar gave the Bears a 2-1 lead at the 12:44 mark of the first quarter.
Wingate would answer with a 5-1 run to take a 6-3 lead after the first quarter. The Bulldog lead swelled to 16-10 with a goal two seconds before the end of the third quarter.
LR mounted a huge rally in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Bulldogs 5-0 in the final quarter. A Myles Moffat goal at the 7:38 mark made it a five-goal advantage for Wingate before a furious late LR rally saw them score four goals in the final 3:06 including three in a 38-second span.