LYNCHBURG, Va. – Lander's 8-0 first-half shutout of Walsh (Ohio) propelled them to a 14-4 neutral-site victory on Shellenberger Field on the campus of the University of Lynchburg on Tuesday night.
Nine Bearcats scored goals against the Cavaliers (1-3) as the Bearcats improved their record to 4-3.
Leading the fray were
Zane Dalpe and
Michael Mattaliano with three each.
Carter Wilcox had two while six others scored once:
Bradley Brown,
Tyler Foti,
Will Maeder,
Levi Roest,
Emory Watson and
Jeremy Wudrick.
Jack Kinney had his best showing as a Bearcat with four caused turnovers and three ground balls to spearhead the defense.
Britton Weems caused three turnovers and grabbed four ground balls.
Nicholas Paige made 12 saves against the Cavaliers for an incredible .750 save percentage.
Neither side scored over the first 6:17 of the game before Mattaliano finally broke the ice off a feed from Dalpe. Less than minute later, Dalpe became the scorer with the assist credited to Wudrick for a 2-0 lead.
Mattaliano scored for the second time with 5:12 left in the first and then assisted Brown to stake Lander to a 4-0 lead after 15 minutes.
Watson netted his first of the season to get things going three minutes into the second quarter. Wilcox followed with nine minutes left in the half to extend the Lander lead to 6-0.
After a prolonged scoreless period for both sides, Dalpe added another with 1:44 left in the half and Mattaliano completed his hat-trick off the next faceoff.
Wilcox found the back of the net for the second time to increase the Blue and Gold advantage to 9-0 6:09 into the second half.
Walsh followed with its first two goals but Dalpe – finishing off his hat-trick – and Maeder nullified them before the end of the quarter as the teams went into the fourth quarter with the score 11-2.
Foti pushed the Lander lead into double-digit range with his first collegiate goal 30 seconds into the final quarter, and Wudrick followed three minutes later for a 13-2 margin.
A pair of Cavalier goals later, Roest capped the scoring with 2:55 to play with
Connor McCauley getting his second career assist.
The Bearcats will stay in the Commonwealth of Virginia for a true road game against Virginia State on Friday (March 7). Face-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Ettrick.
