Williamsburg, KY – The sixth-ranked UC men's lacrosse team had three players score at least three goals to lead the Patriots to a 19-11 win over (RV) Tennessee Wesleyan Friday night at James H. Taylor, II Stadium.  With the win the Patriots improve to 9-3 overall and 3-1 in AAC play, while the Bulldogs move to 5-7 and 2-2 in conference play.

Tennessee Wesleyan struck first as Roderick Williams scored an unassisted goal to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead two minutes into the opening period.  The Patriots responded just over a minute later as Sam Collinson put a well-placed shot into the cage to tie the score a 1-1.  The two teams traded goals before Preston Brooks and Dylan Crouch netted back-to-back goals to give UC a 4-2 lead after the first quarter.

The Bulldogs responded with a pair of goals to start the second quarter and evened the score at 4-4 with 12:48 remaining.  The Patriots won the ensuing faceoff and Brooks put a well-placed shot past the goalie to make it 5-4.  On the next faceoff Nick DiFranco scooped the ground ball, raced up field and connected with the back of the cage to give UC a 6-4 advantage with 12:09 remaining in the first half.  After Tennessee Wesleyan added a goal, the Patriots scored seven unanswered goals to take a 13-5 lead at half.  Henry Quaye and Caleb Elerick each notched a pair of goals during that run.

Cumberlands carried the momentum into the third quarter as Elerick connected with Jake Mitchell for a goal 24 seconds into the half.  Tennessee Wesleyan responded scoring four of the next five goals to cut the lead to 15-9 with 25 seconds left in the third. Kody Swann won the next faceoff and found Mitchell who netted an unassisted goal, for his first career hat trick and give UC a 16-9 lead after three quarters.

Thomas Fogarty extend the Patriots lead with a goal three minutes into the fourth quarter.  UC took advantage of a Bulldogs' penalty as Collinson found Quaye for the man-up goal to make it 18-9 with 6:34 remaining.  Tennessee Wesleyan added a pair of goals, before Brooks found Justin Darley in front of the cage for a goal for the 19-11 final.

Leading the way for the Patriots was Crouch, who tallied a pair of goals to go along with a career-high five assists.  Quaye added four goals, while Mitchell and Elerick each chipped in a hat trick.  Brooks and Collinson added three points apiece.

Defensively, DiFranco scooped a game-high 11 ground balls and force three caused turnovers. Jake Morgan notched three caused turnovers and five ground balls as well as the Patriots finished the game with 13 caused turnovers. Will Settle made eight saves as Dustin Soper added a save in relief.

The Patriots will return to the field Tuesday April 19, when they travel to Wilmore, KY to take on Asbury in an AAC showdown. The game is set for 6 p.m.

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