GREENWOOD – After trailing by five goals early in their first Peach Belt Conference game of the season, the Lander men's lacrosse team staged an impressive comeback to earn a 16-13 win over No. 19 Montevallo on Saturday afternoon at Van Taylor Stadium.
The win got the Bearcats back to .500 at 6-6, while the Falcons fell to 9-4.
Eight Bearcats scored goals, led by
Zane Dalpe's five and
Michael Mattaliano's four.
Carter Wilcox added a pair while five others scored once:
Myles Guthrie,
Chase Hanson,
Levi Roest,
Emory Watson and
Jeremy Wudrick.
As a collective team, Lander outshot Montevallo 47-32, including a 33-20 edge in shots on goal.
The Falcons, though, jumped out to a 5-0 lead over the first 6:15 of the afternoon and put the Blue and Gold on their heels.
Nathan DeThomasis soon found Watson in deep for the Bearcats' first score with seven minutes left in the opening quarter.
Dalpe then scored the next two as Lander made it 6-3 by the end of the first.
That late momentum carried over into the second quarter, and a quick three-goal burst over a two-plus-minute stretch evened it at six with 11:35 remaining in the half. Mattaliano and Hanson scored the first two, and Guthrie netted the equalizer.
A six-minute dry spell followed before Montevallo regained a 7-6 lead with 5:47 to go before halftime. They added another three minutes later for a two-goal advantage, but Mattaliano added his second strike to bring it to 8-7 before the half.
The Falcons struck first in the second half for a 9-7 margin before Dalpe and Wudrick – the latter on the man-advantage – tied it again at nine with 6:43 left in the third.
Montevallo again restored a one-goal lead a minute later.
That would be the final lead of the day for the visitors as Dalpe made it 10-all with 5:27 left in the third. Wilcox gave Lander its first lead, 11-10, with four minutes to play in the quarter, and Dalpe tacked on No. 5 a minute later.
Staked to a 12-11 lead at the start of the fourth, the Bearcats went on another 3-0 spurt to get the breathing room they were in search of. Wilcox scored first, then assisted on Mattaliano's third goal, and Roest capped the run with 11 minutes to play to effectively put the game on ice.
Next up for Lander is a road date with PBC foe Alabama Huntsville next Saturday (April 12). The game will be played at Charger Park in a 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT start.
