Brevard, N.C. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's lacrosse team was back in action on Tuesday evening, playing their 2nd and final game of their Spring Break trip to North Carolina. The Panthers started slow, and eventually lost to Brevard 14-9.
The Panthers took control of the opening faceoff, but lost possession of the ball and allowed the Tornados to score on their first shot of the game after 103 seconds. Brevard took control of the ensuing faceoff and quickly moved into the offensive end and scored only 10 seconds later, forcing a Pitt-Bradford timeout. Hunter Shank responded to the timeout in the Panther goal, making 3 saves before Brevard used the man advantage to score their third goal of the game with 6:53 on the clock. Following another Shank save, the Panthers gained momentum by drawing a penalty. They could not score while a man up, but Ben Byers scored shortly afterwards, juking past a defender and firing a low shot into the goal.
As the game moved into the second quarter, the Panthers won the faceoff and went on the attack. Byers had a shot saved, but was able to pick up a ground ball to maintain possession. 40 seconds later, AJ Nardi found Jaden Freeland open by the side of the net who made a quick catch and took a shot for a goal to pull the Panthers to within one. The Tornados answered with another goal to push their lead to two, but just over a minute later Julian Florez nullified the goal with a solo effort of his own. Florez intercepted a pass in the defensive end at full speed and quickly transitioned into attack. He sprinted to within 15 yards and ripped a shot past the goalie for his first of the game. Pitt-Bradford was not able to find another goal in the half, but the deficit increased as the hosts scored once with 3:14 left on the clock and then beat the buzzer, scoring with 3 seconds left, to take a 6-3 lead into the break.
Pitt-Bradford started the second half on the right foot, scoring after 3 minutes of action. With 11:45 left in the quarter, Freeland passed to Byers on the left wing who caught the ball and whipped a long distance shot just inside the far post for his second tally of the game. The Tornados went on to score the next two before the combination of Freeland and Byers struck again. From behind the goal, Freeland bounced a long pass to Byers who was in front of goal. Byers corralled the pass and sent another shot past the goalie to complete the hat-trick. Brevard scored one more time in the 3rd to take a 10-5 lead into the last quarter.
In the 4th, Joshua Held tried to jump start the offense, scoring with 12:44 left in the game to put the Panthers down 4. Byers forced a turnover at midfield, and then moved into the offensive zone. He found Held near the net who beat the goalie on his left. Unfortunately, the Panthers could not keep the momentum, and the hosts scored the next three goals. In the final 3:21, the Panthers outscored the Tornados 3-1. David De La Teja started the rally, as he cut through the defense and received a pass from Billy Tigar with a clear path to goal. He took a quick shot and beat the keeper low for his first of the game.
Seconds later, De La Teja turned provider. He collected a high pass on the edge of the offensive zone and found Held in front of goal. Held caught the pass on a spin and fired past the goalie for his second of the game. Brevard added one more goal with 92 seconds remaining before Held put the final stamp on the game. After a misplay by the Brevard goalie behind the net, Held collected the groundball and raced to the empty net. He took a backhand shot into the open cage, completing his 4th quarter hat-trick.
Ben Byers and Joshua Held each scored 3 goals for the Panthers in the loss. Byers totaled 9 shots, with 6 on goal and also added an assist. Held put all four of his shots on target. Jaden Freeland finished with a goal and 2 assists, while David De La Teja scored once and assisted once. Julian Florez scored the other Panther goal. Hunter Shank made 18 saves on 32 shots on goal in the loss.
The Panthers fall to 1-3 on the season after the loss. They will return to Bradford before heading to Huntingdon, PA for two games in two days at Juniata College. They will take on Spalding on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. before playing the hosts on Sunday.
