Black Mountain, NC – The fourth-ranked UC men's lacrosse team traveled to North Carolina Wednesday night to take on Montreat in their Appalachian Athletic Conference opener. Dylan Crouch scored  a pair of goals and an assist in the game to become the first Patriot in program history to notch 100 career point as UC defeated the Cavaliers 21-5, improving the team's record to 2-1 overall, 1-0 in AAC play.

Montreat won the opening face-off and on the ensuing possession Jake Morgan caused his first of four turnovers to give UC their first possession. Within a minute, Thomas Fogarty found Lowes to notch UC's first goal of the game. The Patriots continued to play efficient offense, scoring another pair of goals within two minutes of their first to make the score 3-0 at the 11:24 mark. Christian Vanover got in the offensive action as well, finding Lowes for another goal before Montreat cut UC's lead to 4-1 with 8:35 left in the first quarter. The Patriots ended the period with a four goals run with contributions from Whitten McCune, Vanover, and Fogarty to extend UC's lead to 7-1.

Preston Brooks opened up action in the second quarter for Cumberlands, scoring the goal off an assist Vanover to make the score 8-1. A goal from Cavaliers' Jonathan Gunn cut UC's lead to 8-2, but the Pats were quick to with a goal from Dalton Smith to reclaim their seven point lead. After another goal from Montreat, Dawson Coltran sent a pass to Dylan Crouch who connected with of the back of the net to make the score 10-3 in favor of UC. As the clock ran down to the final seconds, Morgan found Lowes upfield to put away one last goal before the close of the half with the Patriots leading 11-3.

Cumberlands came out of the break ready to continue their domination and they were successful, scoring at the 12:34 mark Vanover scored off a pass from Lowes to make the score 12-3. The Pats held the Cavs scoreless during the third quarter as they put up another four goals of their own from Tony Arseneault, Alex Heckler, Fogarty and Crouch. The fourth quarter started in similar fashion with a shot from Heckler to the back of the net, increasing Cumberlands' lead to 17-3 with 13:24 remaining in the game. A four goal run ensued by the Pats before Montreat tallied back-to-back goals to make the score 20-5. Brian Mahadeo closed out the game winning the face-off and immediately netting a goal to make the final score 21-5.

In the victory, six Pats had multi-goal games, highlighted by Lowes netting four goals, while Heckler, Vanover, Fogarty, Crouch, and Arseneault all tallied multiple goals.

The Patriots return to the field Saturday, March 7, when they come home to host Concordia as the first of two games over the weekend. The game is scheduled for 3pm with live video available here and stats available here.

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