The Lenoir-Rhyne men's lacrosse team looks to claim the third South Atlantic Conference tournament title and second in a row on Sunday at 4 p.m. To do so, the Bears must avenge a 13-3 setback against Limestone in the regular season.Â
Since losing at Limestone, the Bears have turned their season around. Left for dead after the lowest scoring output (3 goals) in all but one other game in program history, the Bears fell to 4-3 and faced the prospect of going from a national championship game in 2021 to no postseason the following year. However, LR has rattled off nine straight wins since that loss with four of those wins coming against ranked opponents and two over rival Wingate who was ranked in the top 10 in each of the two games. The Bears defense has been strong as only three times in the nine game winning streak has an opponent reached double figures in scoring.Â
In a wild SAC semifinal game against Wingate, the Bears erupted for seven second quarter goals and outlasted the Bulldogs 17-13 to most assuredly clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Bears entered the week No. 5 in the south region in the NCAA Regional Rankings with six teams getting in from the region. Now, the Bears look to strengthen their seed with a game against the Saints who rank second in the region and third in the nation.Â
When measuring success in D2 men's lacrosse, Limestone is the measuring stick in the south region. Owners of five national championships (all since 2000), the Saints have returned to prominence after a down 2021 season. The '21 Saints were the first to ever compete in the South Atlantic Conference after leaving Conference Carolinas and Friday's win over Queens in the SAC semifinals was just the programs second SAC tournament victory. Limestone has suffered just one set back this entire season and that was a one-goal overtime loss to Wingate on March 5. LU has rattled off 11 straight wins since then, with six coming by double digits.Â
Limestone and Lenoir-Rhyne have produced some classic games in matchup history. On March 8, 2020, the Bears handed #1 Limestone an 18-16 defeat in the Crown Lacrosse Classic in Charlotte, one of three wins for LR over Limestone. The Saints hold the all-time series 8-3 but LR is 3-2 since 2017 with two of those wins coming with Limestone ranked No. 1 in the nation.Â
The winner of this game will sweep the SAC Regular Season and Tournament titles. The two programs shared the regular season title with identical 9-1 league records. LR swept the regular season and tournament championship in 2021 and look to make it two in a row this afternoon.Â
