HARDEEVILLE, S.C. — The No. 4 SCAD men's lacrosse team defeated No. 7 University of the Cumberlands on Thursday afternoon, securing a 15-11 victory over the visiting Patriots at the SCAD Athletics Complex.
RECORDS: The Bees improved to 13-3 overall and 6-2 in Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) play with the win. The Patriots moved to 7-6, 4-4 AAC on the season.
DID YOU KNOW? This is the first time since 2019 in which SCAD has overcome the University of the Cumberlands.
HOW IT HAPPENED: The contest began as a defensive battle, with both teams trading goals in a 3-3 opening frame.
Noah Moreland ignited the SCAD offense with the first and third goals of the day, with
Lucas Martinez scoring in between to keep pace with the visitors.
In the second quarter, Moreland completed a hat trick with the first goal of the quarter at the 9:53 mark to give the Bees a 4-3 lead. The Patriots responded with a goal of their own 20 seconds later to knot the game at four-all, making it the fourth tie of the game.
SCAD outscored Cumberlands 3-2 in the last nine minutes of the first half, with goals from
Mason Hickman,
Griffith Long and
Sebastian Manuel, to take a slim 7-6 lead into halftime.
SCAD maintained its composure in the third quarter, outscoring the Patriots 3-2. Moreland and
Jonathan O'Bryant Graves (2) netted goals to maintain a 10-8 lead heading into the final 15 minutes of play.
Moreland scored his fifth goal of the game with 10:45 remaining but an early response from the Patriots, knotted the game for the sixth and final time at 11-all with just over eight minutes on the clock.
SCAD responded with a decisive run as Moreland, O'Bryant Graves, and
Travis Cheristin (2) scored four unanswered goals to earn the 15-11 win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: Lucas Martinez got the ball rolling for the Bees going 25-28 at the faceoff, recording a game-high 13 ground balls.
Noah Moreland scored a double hattrick, leading all players with six goals and six points.
Jonathan O'Bryant Graves added his own hattrick for three points, while
Travis Cheristin totaled two goals.
Sebastian Manuel and
Mason Hickman were the playmakers in tonight's win, totaling one goal and three assists each for four points.
Griffith Long and
Lucas Martinez rounded out the scoring, adding one goal each.
Keaton Melcher recorded 11 saves in his complete game in the cage, while Cheristin totaled three caused turnovers with O'Bryant Graves adding two and five other players contributing one caused turnover each.
WHAT'S NEXT? The Bees close out the regular season at home on Saturday, April 18, when they host Montreat College at 12:00 p.m. at the SCAD Athletics Complex on Senior Day.
