HICKORY, N.C. - In a battle of top-10 teams to kick off the 2022 season, it was No. 9 UIndy that got the better of No. 2 Lenoir-Rhyne 12-11 in a closely contested game between the bricks. Toron Eccleston had four goals and Joe Venazio had a hat trick in his first game as a Bear, but UIndy was able to squeak out the win in the end. 

INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: Indianapolis 12, Lenoir-Rhyne 11
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (0-1), Indianapolis (1-0)
Location: Hickory, N.C. | Moretz Stadium

STATS OF THE GAME

• UIndy got the first three goals of the game and held the Bears off the scoreboard in the first quarter. Ben Foster had two goals in the opening frame for the Greyhounds. 
• Venazio got LR on the board at the 10:42 mark of the second quarter off a great assist from David Bell. 
• The Greyhounds got the next two goals from Jack Sullivan and Patrick O'Hara to extend the lead to 5-1 with 7:51 to go in the half. 
• The next two goals went to the Bears, with Eccleston grabbing his first of the day along with Bryce Reece. 
• Foster added the final tally of the half with a man-up goal with 57 seconds remaining before halftime to push the lead to 6-3 at the break. 
• The scoring would increase in the third quarter as UIndy grabbed four more goals. The Bears added three, one from Myles Moffat, and two more from Venazio and Eccleston to make it a 10-6 game heading into the fourth quarter. 
• LR came out on fire in the fourth quarter, with Reece and Venazio scoring two quick ones to make it 10-8, and the Eccleston ripped two in a row to tie the game at 10 with just under six minutes remaining. 
• However, UIndy had the answer, getting back-to-back goals from Brian Robb and Foster in crunch time to stretch the lead to 12-10. 
• Mitchell Linklater grabbed an unassisted goal with a minute to go to bring the game within one goal, but UIndy won the ensuing faceoff and was able to run out the clock and grab a huge road victory. 
• Noah Johnson played great in net and made 14 saves. 

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• This was the first meeting between the schools. UIndy is the 39th different opponent LR has played in 12 years of lacrosse. 
• The Bears fall to 3-9 in season openers all-time. LR had won two straight season openers before today's game in 2020 and 2021. 
• UIndy's season ended last year at the hands of Wingate in Moretz Stadium. The Greyhounds lost a last-second game to the Bulldogs in May 2021. 
• Eccleston had four goals to pace the Bears. He led the team with 54 goals in 2021. 
• Venazio netted a hat trick in his first game for LR. He is a graduate transfer from Coker, and is second all-time in Cobra program history with 105 goals. 
• Johnson had seven double-digit save games in 2021, and his 14 today are the second most he's had in a game. 

UP NEXT: The Bears will host North Greenville this upcoming Saturday (2/12) at 1 p.m. looking to get back on track.