West Palm Beach, FL – The third-ranked UC men's lacrosse team outscored (RV) Lawrence Tech 10-5 over the final three quarters for the 12-8 final Thursday afternoon in a neutral site game.  With the win the Patriots improve to 6-1, while Blue Devils move to 3-3 on the season.

The Patriots struck first as Henry Quaye put a well-placed shot into the back of the cage to give UC a 1-0 two minutes into the first quarter.  The Blue Devils notched back-to-back goals, in a three-minute span, to take a 2-1 lead.  Four minutes later, Dalton Smith tallied an unassisted goal to tie the game 2-2 with 4:46 remaining.  Lawrence Tech won the ensuing faceoff and Justin Light converted the opportunity into a goal giving the Blue Devils a 3-2 lead after the first quarter.

For the second straight game Cumberlands defense has held their opponent scoreless in the second quarter, this time limiting Lawrence Tech to three shots on frame, all of which were saved by Will Settle.  Smith continued to continued his big day as he netted his second game-tying goal of the day, this time of the assist from Alex Heckler to even the score at 3-3 with 6:31 left in the second quarter.  The Patriots added a go-ahead goal as Dylan Crouch scooped the ground ball off a Heckler shot and put it home to make it 4-3 in favor of UC.  Kody Swann won the ensuing faceoff and on the possession Crouch found Anthony Gray for a goal 28 seconds later to give the Patriots a 5-3 edge at halftime.

Lawrence Tech netted three unanswered goals in the first four minutes of the third quarter to take a 6-5 lead with 11:50 remaining. The Blue Devils looked to extend their lead however Settle made a pair of saves to keep it a one-goal game.  On the transition following that second save, Heckler connected with Jake Mitchell for his second goal of the season midway through the quarter.  Smith added a goal before Heckler score twice off assists from Quaye and Crouch to extend the Patriots lead to 9-6.

UC carried the momentum in the fourth quarter as Sam Collinson's shot got past the keeper for a goal to make it 10-6 with 10:41 left.  UC took advantage of a pair of Blue Devils' penalties as Preston Brooks found Smith for the man-up goal, just over a minute later.  The two teams traded goals, before Jacob Flood scored for Lawrence Tech for the 12-8 final.

Smith led the way for the Patriots with four goals, while Heckler recorded two goals and two assists.  It marks the second time this season that Smith netted four goals in a game.  Quaye and Crouch finished with three points each.  Settle finished with ten saves and six ground balls to improve to 6-1 on the season.  It's the fifth straight game that Settle has made at least ten saves.

The Patriots return to the field Saturday, March 16, to face tenth-ranked SCAD in West Palm Beach. The game is slated for 11 a.m. with live video available here.

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