HARTSVILLE, S.C. - The Coker University men's lacrosse team nipped North Greenville in non-conference action Friday night (Feb. 14) by a score of 9-8 with a late goal from Kaden Ross.
Coker scored the first two goals of the game beginning with a marker from Ethan Irizarry a minute in, before Joe Venazio scored from Henry Haskett at the four-minute mark of the quarter. North Greenville would respond to tie the game 2-2 halfway through the period, before Matt Murphy put the Cobras ahead 3-2 just past the halfway point. After North Greenville responded to tie the game yet again with five and a half minutes to play, Coker would finish the first quarter on a 3-0 run to take a 6-3 lead to the second. Ross scored from Irizarry 50 seconds after North Greenville's tying goal, before Matt Murphy scored from Venazio with three and a half minutes to play in the period. Murphy netted the final goal of the quarter with 1:38 to play as Coker held a three-goal advantage after 15 minutes.
North Greenville scored the only goal of the second quarter, getting within 6-4 as the teams headed to the half.
North Greenville scored the first three goals of the third quarter, taking a 7-6 lead with six minutes and change in the period. Haskett would tie the game at 7-7 from Venazio less the a minute later, as the teams headed to the fourth quarter tied 7-7.
North Greenville would take an 8-7 lead less than two minutes into the final period, as the game would tick down into its final four minutes. Irizarry would score unassisted to knot the game up with under four minutes to play, before the teams appeared destined for overtime. Ross would put the icing on the cake with a top-shelf rocket with a minute and a half left to put the Cobras ahead. Coker's defense and goalkeeper Chris Hagy would come up big on the ensuing faceoff, as the Cobras would hang on for the win.
Murphy led the Cobras in the goal column with a first-quarter hat trick, while Irizarry and Ross each scored twice in the game. Venazio and Haskett each scored once in the victory. Venazio posted a team-high two assists in the game, while Irizarry and Haskett each dished out one assist in the contest. Coker edged North Greenville in shots 37-36 in the contest. Jason McNeany led the Cobras with seven ground balls, while Ethan Ramsey and Emmanuel Adjaye each collected four ground balls in the game. Irizarry picked up three ground balls, while Hagy, James Brugger, Nicholas Maddox and Desmon Patten each scooped up two ground balls. Murphy and Ryan Bass each picked up one ground ball in the victory. Coker caused 12 turnovers in the victory, led by Adjaye with four. Bass and Justin Hopkins each registered two caused turnovers, while four others each picked up one. McNeany was also 13-19 in the faceoff circle, while Coker also was successful on 14 of 19 clears on the day.
The Cobras return to action next Tuesday (Feb. 18) to host Barton in non-conference action at 3:00 p.m. Video and live stats will be available for the contest at www.cokercobras.com.
McDonald's Player of the Game - Kaden Ross