CORNELIUS, N.C. – In a nationally televised game on the Lacrosse Sports Network, the No. 10 Lenoir-Rhyne Men's Lacrosse Team earned its second win over a top three team in a seven-day span with an 18-16 win over No. 1 Limestone on Sunday morning in the Crown Lacrosse Challenge. The win was the second in program history for LR over Limestone with the Saints being ranked No. 1 each time. The Bears earned a 17-16 win over No. 3 Adelphi in Hickory last week and this is the first time in team history that LR has knocked off two top five teams in the same season. The loss was Limestone's first regular season loss since May 5, 2018, a span of 18 straight wins. 

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: #10 Lenoir-Rhyne 18, #1 Limestone 16
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (5-1), Limestone (4-1)
Location: Cornelius, N.C. | Hough High School

STATS OF THE GAME:
• A year after Limestone handed LR a 19-9 loss inside Moretz Stadium, the Bears proved they weren't intimidated by scoring the first three goals of the game. Chris Britton, Bryce Reece and Will Canata found the back of the net just 2:49 into the game. 
• The hotly-contested game saw neither team lead by more than two for a 25-minute span between the second and fourth quarters. The Bears would erase a 14-13 deficit with a 5-0 scoring run to take an 18-14 lead with 3:50 to play. Myles Moffat scored twice in that span and Reece had a pair of assists. 
• Limestone wouldn't go away as the Saints scored twice in a 38 second span to cut the lead to 18-16 but the LR defense held off the comeback attempt. 
• Reece finished with a career-high five points and Moffat and Canata each netted a hat trick for LR.  
• Noah Johnson was tremendous for the Bears in goal, stopping 16 shots to earn the win. This was the sixth time in the sophomore's career that he recorded at least 16 saves in a game. 
• Limestone held a 59-50 advantage in shots in the game and a 32-25 edge in shots on goal. However, thanks to Johnson's effort, LR had 16 saves compared to seven from the Saints.
• The Bears went 16-for-18 in clears and won 18 of 37 faceoffs with Noah Flasch taking all 37. LR went 1-for-5 with the extra man and held Limestone to two goals in seven man up chances. 
• Limestone was led by four goals from Tyler Papa and six assists from Larson Sundown. 

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
• Lenoir-Rhyne is now 14-21 all-time against ranked opponents and 2-3 all-time against No. 1 ranked opponents. 
• The Bears, who have been ranked all season, improve to 45-12 as a ranked team. LR is a perfect 6-0 as a ranked opponent in neutral site games. 
• The Bears are 47-22 all-time in the month of March. 
• The win is the 90th in program history. 

COACHES TAKE:
When asked about beating the No. 3 and No. 1 team in the nation in the same week, Head Coach Greg Paradine said "I just told the guys in the locker room, our team is for real. If we continue to keep getting better and better we are a team to be reckoned with."

UP NEXT:  The Bears will return to action on Tuesday when they host Assumption at 7 p.m.