W&L turns tables on LC in ODAC men’s lacrosse semis

Paybacks are painful, as Lynchburg College’s men’s lacrosse team experienced first-hand Wednesday night at home.

The Hornets (11-5) suffered a dramatic reversal of fortune in Wednesday’s Old Dominion Athletic Conference semifinal against Washington & Lee (14-3).

A week after overcoming an 4-0 deficit in a 10-7 triumph over the 10th-ranked Generals in Lexington, the 15th-ranked Hornets let an early 5-1 lead slip away in a season-ending 12-11 setback, played in chilly conditions before a vocal bi-partisan crowd at Shellenberger Field.

“It was a great atmosphere, two of the top teams in the country battling it out here,” Generals coach Gene McCabe said. “My hat’s off to Lynchburg. They played their hearts out and left it on the field. We were fortunate to get out of here with a win.”

A year after winning the ODAC tournament and advancing to the NCAA Division III tournament, the Hornets fell victim to a Generals squad hungry to avenge last week’s loss.

“We just kept telling our kids to keep believing, and sort of punch-counterpunch and that’s the kind of game it was,” said McCabe, whose seniors defeated Lynchburg for the first time, a stretch of six games “Each team landed some right good punches and we were fortunate to get that last one in there.”

“It was tough,” LC midfielder Ethan Farrell added. “Everything we came with today, they had an answer for.”

The game featured numerous momentum shifts and counter-attacks.

“We kept fighting back, but they got the better of us tonight,” Hornets senior attack Michael Mundorf said.

Early in the second half, Phil Petronelli picked up a loose ball near midfield and sent a pass to Tyler Tolson, Lynchburg’s leading scorer on the season with 50 goals. He got loose up the left wing and tied the game at 7-7, beating W&L goalkeeper Connor Locke inside the left post.

With time running down in the third quarter and the Hornets trailing 9-7, Ferrell made a scrappy effort to dig up a ground ball before releasing an assist to freshman attack Dylan Hoff a split second before being leveled by a W&L check, cutting it to 9-8.

Mundorf paced LC with three goals, including a diving, game-tying jab from behind the goal a minute into the fourth quarter, and two assists, including one to Ferrell that knotted it at 10-10 six minutes later.

He gathered a rebound of a shot by Ferrell behind the cage and fed it back to him for a wide open shot from less than 10 yards out.

“It was a great lacrosse game,” Lynchburg coach Steve Koudelka said. “It was nip and tuck, back and forth. We’re pretty even. They just made one more play than we did and that’s the difference.”

W&L attack Will Keigler used an underhanded scoop shot to finish a Drew Koeneman feed in the left crease, beating LC goalie Franc Cook with just under five minutes remaining in regulation.

The Generals then held the ball for two and a half of the final three minutes before the Hornets finally got the ball back with 32 seconds left, plenty of time to set up a quality scoring chance.

However, W&L shifted to a zone defense, loading up the box, and Locke stick saved Eddie Bilinkas’ last-second shot.

“When there’s 20 seconds left, it’s helter-skelter and unfortunately, they made the play at the end and we didn’t,” Koudelka said. “That’s a credit to them.”

“It was a great game between two great teams and I’m glad we came out on top,” added Koeneman, who led the Generals with three goals and two assists.

W&L advances to Sunday’s championship game at Roanoke College, the No. 1-ranked team in the nation.

Washington & Lee 1 6 2 3 — 12

Lynchburg College 3 3 2 3 — 11

Scoring: W&L — Drew Koeneman 3g, 2a; Kevin Feeney 2g, 1a; Will Keigler 2g; Tim Skeen 1g, 1a; Spence Daw 1g; Harry St. John 1g; Seth Fishman 1g; Chris Washington 1g; Justin Donati 1a. LC — Michael Mundorf 3g, 2a; Tyler Tolson 2g; Dylann Hoff 2g; Dean Evans 1g, 1a; Eddie Bilinkas 1g; Ethan Farrell 1g; Ben Sauer 1g; Kyle Fortman 1a; Phil Petronelli 1a. Saves: Franc Cook (LC) 15, Connor Locke (W&L) 11.

Records: W&L 14-3, LC 11-5.