GREENWOOD – The Lander men's lacrosse team will compete in its third consecutive PBC Tournament Semifinal when it battles No. 4 Alabama Huntsville on Sunday at 12 pm at Van Taylor Stadium.
Lander, who claimed its first-ever regular season title and No. 1 seed, comes into Sunday with an 11-4 overall record.
The Bearcats are also winners of eight of their last 10 games, with the only losses coming to nationally ranked Anderson and Limestone.
Lander has faced UAH six times in the past four seasons, with the Chargers winning four of those games. The Bearcats won 17-9 earlier this season in Greenwood on March 25. Adam Mather scored six goals and recorded seven points. Kyle DeCrispino had three goals and four assists for seven points as well.
Lander saw five selections to the PBC All-Conference team along with the Elite 16 Award, the PBC Player of The Year and the PBC Coach of The Year Award coming to Greenwood.
Mather has been named the PBC Offensive Player of The Year in back-to-back seasons. He led the Peach Belt with 4.13 points per game, was second in assists per game and fifth in goals per game. Named the PBC Player of the Week on March 27, he scored in all but two of the 15 games he played in and provided points in each one. He scored multiple goals nine times, including a season-high six against Alabama-Huntsville.
Head coach Anthony LePore was named Co-Coach of The Year as he lead his squad to its first-ever regular season title in program history. This is the first time LePore has been named the PBC Coach of The Year.
Lander has posted back-to-back seasons with at least 11 wins with LePore leading the way and have posted an overall record of 32-17 under his guidance. With an 11-4 overall record, Lander has received votes in the last five USILA national polls. Lander leads the PBC in goals, assists and shots per game.
Alongside Mather, James Linn, Carter Wilcox and Nicholas Paige were named to the All-Conference First Team. Kyle DeCrispino was named to the All-Conference Second Team.
DeCrispino leads the Bearcats with 42 goals this season and is second in points with 55. Mathers is the leader in assists with 27 and points with 62.
James Linn is one of six players to record 10 or more caused turnovers for Lander. Linn's 21 caused turnovers leads the squad with Nolan Oakey second with 19. Britton Weems Caedmon Ferrell, Adam Mather and Stephen Wilburn all have 10 or more caused turnovers.
Nicholas Paige has played in 14 games in goal while starting 12 games this season for the Bearcats. Paige finished the regular season with a 10.05 GAA, a 9-3 record and 135 saves.
The Chargers most recently defeated Young Harris 18-5 in the PBC Quarterfinals. UAH held the Mountain Lions to one goal in the second half after leading 7-4 in the first half. The Chargers also put away eight goals in the third quarter. Brody Phillips led the Chargers with five goals while Pete Fabrizio was second with four goals.
Phillips is the Chargers leading goal scorer with 36 this season and is first in points with 54. Fabrizio is second in goals with 33, first in assists with 20 and second with 53 points.
Max Keller has played and started 12 games in the cage for the Chargers. He's made 137 saves with an 8-4 record with over 680 minutes of action.
UAH saw Colin Galinski named to the PBC All-Conference first team while Phillips was named to the second team.
The other side of the bracket sees No. 3 Montevallo battle No. 2 Flagler in St. Augustine on Sunday. Montevallo rolled over No. 6 Shorter 26-8 on Friday.
The PBC Championship will be hosted on May 6 at the highest remaining seed.
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