Men's Lacrosse Plays a Terrific Game in Close Defeat to UM-Dearborn

MONTREAT, N.C. - The Columbia College inaugural men's lacrosse team posted a solid effort while holding their own in a close 11-6 loss against a more veteran-laden deeper team in Michigan-Dearborn on Sunday afternoon at Montreat College in the NC mountains.

UM-Dearborn got off to a quick start leading 2-0 after the first four minutes. However, the Koala defense then settled in to hold the Wolverines scoreless over the rest of the quarter while scoring two goals themselves to tie the game at two apiece. The Koalas received first quarter goals from freshmen midfielders William Tanks and Noah Norwood on assists from sophomore midfielder Rione Konz and Norwood.

In the second, Dearborn again scored two quick goals to lead 4-2 with 11:45 to play. Norwood then scored his second goal and third Koala goal at the 9:30 mark before Dearborn added two more goals to lead 6-3. Freshman attacker Gavin Gordon then added a late Columbia goal before half off an assist from Tanks to get CC within two at 6-4 at the break. 

To begin the third, the Koalas tied the game at six goals apiece quickly scoring just over a minute into the half on the third goal from Norwood before freshman attacker Landon Flenniken tied the game with his unassisted goal at the 12-minute mark. Unfortunately, those would be the last goals the Koalas would connect on as UMD held CC scoreless over the remainder of the game. UMD added their go-ahead goal with 2:30 to play in the third to go up 7-6 heading into the fourth before adding four final goals against an exhausted Koala defense to grab the win.

Goalie Fin Landi had a tremendous game making 12 saves on 23 shots on goal while CC outshot the Wolverines 14-8 in the fourth quarter but dropped the overall shot count 42-36. Freshman midfielder Kai Correia won 7 faceoffs and collected 5 ground balls while Norwood attempted 15 shots with six on goal. Konz picked up four ground balls while Tanks had 10 shots and three ground balls. Columbia caused 17 Dearborn turnovers while controlling the ground ball count, 25-15.

The Koalas fall to 1-4 on the season while UMD improved to 2-2. CC will next have two weeks off before beginning conference play on March 14 on the road at SCAD-Savannah College at 12 Noon.