HICKORY, N.C. - Tommy Aguilar's goal with 40 seconds left sealed a victory for No.15 Lenoir-Rhyne over visiting No. 17 Queens on a chilly and windy Saturday night at Moretz Stadium. Queens erased four-goal deficits to one on two different occasions in the game but couldn't net the equalizer as LR wins its third straight game.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: #15 Lenoir-Rhyne 13, #17 Queens 11
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (7-3, 4-1 SAC), Queens (5-3, 2-2 SAC)
Location: Hickory, N.C.
STATS OF THE GAME
- LR scored eight of the first 11 goals in the game to take an 8-3 advantage with 4:33 to play in the first half.
- Queens would respond with a 4-0 spurt to close out the first stanza and cut the LR lead to 8-7.
- Defense reigned supreme in the third quarter as each team scored just once as the Bears went into the fourth quarter up 9-8.
- LR looked to pull away with goals by Will Canata and a pair from Aguilar put the Bears up 12-8 with 10:39 to go.
- Once again, Queens answered, this time rattling off three in a row to make it 12-11 with 5:01 to play.
- Neither team found the back of the net until Aguilar sealed the win with 40 seconds to play.
- Queens converted their first three chances on the man-advantage and went 3-of-5 on the night.
- LR led 44-38 in shots and 26-20 in shots on goal while grabbing a 31-24 advantage in ground balls.
- Toron Eccleston paced the Bears with four goals and Canata and Aguilar had three each.
- Macon Sumner won 10 of 15 faceoffs and grabbed five ground balls and Noah Johnson made nine stops.
- Queens was led by five points from Kealan Pilon and Jack Royer.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- This was the 15th meeting in series history and LR now holds an 8-7 advantage.
- LR and Queens have gone to overtime three times in series history and tonight looked like it may continue that trend before Aguilar's late goal.
- This was the 60th SAC game in program history and LR is now 53-7 all-time in SAC games.
- LR earned its first win over a ranked foe this season after dropping their first three to teams all ranked in the top 10.
- The Bears improved to 94-3 all-time when leading after three quarters.
- LR is 59-23 all-time in the month of March.
UP NEXT: The Bears will return to action on Wednesday when they host Newberry at 7 p.m.