Division III Recap: Orelli, Vandenberg Late-Game Heroes for Lynchburg

Several of Saturday’s second-round scores in the NCAA Division III men’s lacrosse tournament were lopsided. Lynchburg and Grove City didn’t get the memo.

The Hornets trailed by one with 3:20 remaining after Breck Peacock scored for Grove City, but Riley Hastings answered with the equalizer just 25 seconds later. Lynchburg then didn’t need to wait much longer for the go-ahead goal.

Lynchburg won the next faceoff, successfully cleared, and Hastings found Spencer Vandenberg for what proved to be the winner with 2:10 remaining.

Lynchburg will advance to Sunday’s third round with a 16-15 win in front of a home crowd of 624. Hastings had four goals and three assists, and Vandenberg also scored four goals.

The Hornets had to overcome a couple obstacles, including a poor 15-for-35 showing on faceoffs and rocky goalie play. Eric Allen and Luca Orelli combined for only eight saves, but Orelli did more than enough to salvage the day by making two stops — one with three seconds left and another with one second left — to save the game.

Neither Grove City nor Lynchburg could grab much of a foothold in the back-and-forth contest. The only two-goal lead of the entire game came when Vandernberg put Lynchburg ahead 6-4 with 11:27 left in the second quarter. The rest of the afternoon was a seesaw.

In other games of note:

• Gavin Timmoney scored with just 11 seconds left as Williams edged St. John Fisher 6-5 in a defensive battle.
• Stevens led Amherst by as many as eight goals in the second half, but had to hold off a late comeback in a 14-13 victory. Matthew Pergola had four goals and an assist for Stevens, giving him a school record 106 points this season.
• Washington and Lee stayed hot, beating Centennial Conference champion Gettysburg 19-10 behind four goals and four assists from senior James Haley. Haley now has a school-record 111 points this season. Gettysburg had beaten W&L earlier this season and knocked the Generals out of the NCAA tournament a year ago.
• Hope remains undefeated (20-0) and became the first team to reach the quarterfinals following a 14-12 victory over Bates. Their pod was played a day earlier as Hope generally does not compete on Sundays for religious reasons. Gibson Heethuis had two goals and five assists and Hope used a four-goal run in the fourth quarter to rally for the victory. Heethuis, a Michigan native, has 132 points this season.

NCAA DIVISION III MEN’S TOURNAMENT
SECOND ROUND SCORES

Friday

Bates def. Cortland 17-9
Hope def. Ithaca 14-11

Saturday

Christopher Newport def. Pfeiffer 20-7
Babson def. Massachusetts Maritime 26-8
Bowdoin def. Scranton 16-6
Lynchburg def. Grove City 16-15
Wesleyan def. Ohio Northern 19-4
Salisbury def. Roanoke 19-3
Stevens def. Amherst 14-13
Williams def. St. John Fisher 6-5
St. Lawrence def. Hamilton 14-10
York def. Colorado College 11-4
Washington and Lee def. Gettysburg 19-10
Tufts def. Rhodes 17-9
RIT def. Elmhurst 19-6
Middlebury def. Dickinson 13-8

NCAA DIVISION III MEN’S TOURNAMENT
THIRD ROUND SCores

Hope def. Bates 14-12

NCAA DIVISION III MEN’S TOURNAMENT
THIRD ROUND SCHEDULE

Games scheduled for Sunday, May 10. All times Eastern.

Babson vs. St. Lawrence, 3 p.m.
Bowdoin vs. Stevens, 3 p.m.
Christopher Newport vs. W&L, 3 p.m.
Lynchburg vs. York, 3 p.m.
Wesleyan vs. Williams, 3 p.m.
RIT vs. Salisbury, 6 p.m.
Tufts vs. Middlebury, 7:30 p.m.