Williamsburg, KY – The sixth-ranked UC men's lacrosse team used a 7-0 run, that spanned nearly 15 minutes in the second half to knock off the third-seed Tennessee Wesleyan 11-7 Friday night at James H. Taylor, II Stadium.  The win marks the Patriots first AAC tournament victory and advances UC to the AAC title game tomorrow afternoon.

Tennessee Wesleyan (7-9) came out strong as Dalton O'Connell Zradicka recorded an unassisted goal to give the Bulldogs an early 1-0 lead.  The Patriots responded five minutes later as Caleb Elerick put a well-placed shot into the upper corner of the goal to tie the game 1-1.  After a Bulldogs goal, Whitten McCune and Dylan Crouch netted back-to-back goals to give Cumberlands a 3-2 lead with 4:33 left in the first quarter.  The Bulldogs ran a set piece off of a time out which resulted in a Zradicka goal evening the score at 3-3 after the opening period.

The even play continued in the second quarter as both teams tallied nine shots and scooped nine ground balls.  Tennessee Wesleyan converted the lone goal of the quarter, a Roderick Williams one-timer, to give the Bulldogs a 4-3 lead at the break.

The Bulldogs won the opening faceoff of the third quarter and netted a goal on the ensuing possession to extend their lead to 5-3.  Two minutes later, Nick DiFranco caused a Williams' turnover, scooped the ground ball and found Jake Mitchell, who passed it to Dylan Crouch for a goal to cut the deficit to 5-4.  The two teams traded goals, before Henry Quaye put a low shot past the goalie to even the score 6-6 with 2:27 left.  UC regained the lead 50 seconds later as Elerick connected with McCune for a goal to give Cumberlands a 7-6 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

UC (12-3) carried the momentum into the fourth quarter with back-to-back goals from Crouch to extend the lead to 9-6.  Just over a minute later, Sam Collinson found Mitchell cutting towards the cage for a goal to make it 10-6.  Collinson netted UC's final goal at the 5:05 mark, before the Bulldogs notched the last goal of the game for the 11-7 final.

Leading the way for the Patriots was Crouch and Elerick, who combined for five goals and four assists.  Collinson added two goals and a pair of assists, while Mitchell, Quaye and McCune chipped in two points apiece.  Jake Morgan recorded five caused turnovers and five ground balls, while DiFranco scooped a team high six ground balls and caused three turnovers. 

The Patriots will return to the field Saturday, April 21, when they face top-seed Reinhardt, who defeated fourth-seed Montreat 13-4, for the AAC tournament crown. The game is set to begin at 4 p.m. with live video available here and live stats available here.

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