Swannanoa, NC -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's lacrosse team earned the first win in program history on Saturday as they defeated Warren Wilson 16-3.
The Panthers took control of the game early, forcing a save after 80 seconds and then went on the man advantage after a Procedure penalty on the Owls. The Panthers did not score with the extra attacker, but did go in front shortly after the penalty ended as Nick Fisher moved into the offensive end, faked a pass and fired a low shot past the goalie. The Panthers doubled their lead 3 minutes later when Billy Tigar found Ben Byers on the left wing. Byers caught the pass and fired a shot into the far side of the goal to put the Panthers ahead 2-0.
Pitt-Bradford didn't take long to add to their lead, scoring on the next possession. David De La Teja won the faceoff after the goal and quickly moved into the offensive end. Joshua Held took possession of the ball behind the net, and as he moved to the front of the goal, found Tigar on the backside, who caught the pass and quickly shot into the goal for the first tally of his career. Over the next 9 minutes, the Panthers forced two saves from the Owl goalie, while Hunter Shank stopped a pair of shots to keep the hosts off the board. With just 8 seconds remaining in the quarter, Fisher beat the goalie with his second score of the game, putting the Panthers ahead 4-0 after the first.
The Panthers stayed on the front foot in the second quarter, and added to their lead after five minutes of play. With the man advantage, Billy Tigar found the net for his second on an assist from Reid Kristufek. Two minutes later, De La Teja opened his collegiate account, scoring on a feed from Evan Hawley. Pitt-Bradford forced two more saves from the Warren Wilson goalie before Byers scored an unassisted goal to extend the lead to 7 with 4:19 remaining in the half. To close the half, the Panthers went down a man after a penalty with 2:39 left in the 2nd, but after a Shank save and clearance, the Panthers were able to beat the Owl defense for one more goal and go to the break ahead 8-0.
Pitt-Bradford picked up right where they left off to start the 2nd half, when Byers tallied his 3rd goal of the game after less than a minute of play. They could not maintain that form for the remainder of the period as they missed the net with 10 shots while seeing two more stopped.
After only one goal in the 3rd period, both teams exploded in the fourth, combining for 10 total goals in the final 15 minutes of action. Held got the quarter started, scoring after 65 seconds, and then Byers added two more goals, bringing his tally to 5. Warren Wilson finally got onto the scoreboard with 9:18 left, but the Panthers quickly responded as Julian Florez scored his first career goal to match the tally. The Owls quickly scored again after 17 seconds, however Pitt-Bradford used a Warren Wilson penalty to their advantage, when Tigar scored with a man up. Kristufek added a goal with 2:30 on the clock and Held closed the scoring with a tally in the last minute with an assist from Tigar.
Ben Byers led the Panther attack, scoring 5 goals on 11 shots, while also adding 2 assists. Billy Tigar tallied 3 goals and a pair of assists, while Joshua Held and Nick Fischer each scored twice. David de La Teja, Evan Hawley, Reid Kristufek and Julian Florez all scored in the win as well. Hunter Shank made 11 saves, while allowing 1 goal. Evan Stack played the final 9 minutes, making one save.
The victory moves the Panthers to 1-2 this season. They will remain in North Carolina and will take on Brevard on Tuesday, March 4th at 6:00 p.m.
