BELMONT, N.C. -- Defense reigned supreme as the No. 1 Bears suffocated Belmont Abbey with a 12-4 win in their first road game of the season. LR has now won nine straight road games and have downed back-to-back Conference Carolinas opponents to start the 2024 campaign. LR outscored Belmont Abbey 5-0 in the fourth quarter and held Belmont Abbey to just 24 shots.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: #1 Lenoir-Rhyne 12, Belmont Abbey 4
Records: #1 Lenoir-Rhyne (2-0), Belmont Abbey (1-1)
Location: Belmont, N.C. | Alumni Field
STATS OF THE GAME
- LR outshot Belmont Abbey 15-5 in the opening quarter and ran out to a 3-0 lead. Ryan Duncan opened the scoring and Tommy Aguilar and Landon Parker also scored to put the Bears up three after one.
- Evan Voss made it 4-0 before Abbey broke through. Caison Dillon and Jarrett Huff would score for LR and the Bears took a 6-2 lead into the break.
- Two of the first three in the second half went to the Crusaders as the lead was cut to 7-4 but the Bears took over from there.
- Colten McCracken scored at the 13:56 mark of the fourth quarter and Voss scored less than a minute later. At the 11:10 mark, Ducnan netted another goal to make it 10-4. The final blow came on an own goal by Belmont Abbey as a pass back to the goalie found the back of the net.
- Will Canata closed out the scoring as LR shut out BAC in the final 15 minutes.
- Duncan finished with a hat trick and added an assist while Voss had two goals and an assist.
- McCracken caused three turnovers and added two ground balls to go with his goal and assist.
- Rob Pensabene made 11 saves in his first start of the season.
- LR outshot Belmont Abbey 50-24 in the game and forced 22 Belmont Abbey turnovers.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The four goals allowed to Belmont Abbey are tied for the least goals the Crusaders scored in a game against Lenoir-Rhyne in series history.
- LR has won four straight over Belmont Abbey and are now 7-6 against the Crusaders all-time.
- The Bears are now 95-21 all-time as a ranked team.
- LR is 49-27 all-time in road games.
- This was the 38th straight win over an unranked opponent for the Bears.
UP NEXT: The Bears will being a stretch against three teams ranked in the top 10 nationally on Sunday when they host No. 9 UIndy at 1 p.m.