Men's Lacrosse Battles in Close Loss to No. 16 Queens (N.C.)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Coker University men's lacrosse battled in a close 18-13 loss to No. 16 Queens (N.C.) on Wednesday (Mar. 24) in South Atlantic Conference action.

Richie Timothee got the scoring started less than two minutes in, before the Royals tied the game less than two minutes later. The Cobras jumped out to a two-goal lead over the next few minutes with goals from Cal Gibson assisted by Joe Venazio and Venazio assisted by Gibson, before the Royals responded with the next four goals to end the first quarter.

The Royals continued their run into the second quarter, scoring the first two goals of the frame in the first minute to increase their lead to 8-3. A man-down goal from Matt Murphy and a goal from Andrew Dappen assisted by Venazio got Coker back within three, before the two teams would later trade goals 29 seconds apart to keep the differential at three. The Royals scored three of the final four goals of the quarter, with an unassisted marker from Murphy coming with two and a half minutes to play in the period.

Coker's lone goal in the third quarter came with six minutes to play in the period, when Venazio scored unassisted.

The Cobras were able to keep the Royals off the board in the fourth quarter, netting five goals in the final frame. Dappen scored from Venazio two and a half minutes into the frame, before Timothee scored unassisted again less than two minutes later. Venazio scored from Murphy with just under 10 minutes to play, before Ethan Irizarry got in on the scoring with under seven minutes to play. Venazio would tally the final marker of the game with a minute and a half to play, off an assist from Henry Haskett.

Venazio paced the Cobras with seven points (four G, three A), while Murphy and Dappen each scored twice. Irizarry and Gibson also scored for Coker in the game. Murphy, Gibson and Haskett registered assists in the game for Coker. Ethan Ramsey and Mike Debbout led the team with five ground balls apiece, while Jason McNeany had four and Irizarry and Timothee each scooped up three. 12 other Cobras picked up ground balls in the game. Dezmon Patten caused two of Coker's seven turnovers in the game, while five others each forced one turnover. Chris Hagy made 12 saves in the contest, while Ethan Hofert also made two saves in relief.

The Cobras return to action on Sunday (Mar. 28) to host Mars Hill in South Atlantic Conference action. The action begins at 2:00 p.m. from the Coker Athletic Field, with video and live stats available at www.cokercobras.com.