CARY, N.C. (March 7) – The Saint Vincent College men's lacrosse team used a big second half to defeat William Peace University 14-8 and improve to 4-0 on the season.
 
Tied at 5-5 at halftime and 7-7 midway through the third quarter, the Bearcats outscored the Pacers (2-1) 7-1 over the game's final 21 minutes to pull away for the spring break-opening win.
 
Caleb Hawkins and Jordan Billet each recorded three goals and four points, while Jacob Visalli was a third SVC player to record a hat trick, scoring each of his three tallies during the Bearcats' big second half.
 
Matthew Cassidy totaled three points, on two goals and an assist, while Andrew Coholich recorded two points (1G, 1A) and Justin Wodarek and Jonathan Nagy each scored once.
 
Brady Beard had a big night in the faceoff circle, going 19-for-24 and scooping up 12 ground balls, with RJ Kenna collecting four ground balls and Brody McMahon three.
 
Noah Sperling played all 60 minutes in goal and earned the win by making five saves.
 
Saint Vincent outshot William Peace 56-22 on the night, while holding a commanding 27-13 edge in ground balls and forcing 14 turnovers.
 
In a game that was delayed for more than five hours due to a scheduling mix up with officials, the Bearcats started strong, with Billet, Hawkins and Cassidy giving their team a 3-0 lead just 2:12 into the first quarter. Billet would score his second goal of the quarter with 6:32 left, before the Pacers scored a man-up goal with 5:07 left in the opening stanza to cut the deficit to 4-2.
 
The Pacers kept the momentum to open up the second quarter, scoring two goals over the first 4:30 to tie the game at 4-all. An unassisted goal from Hawkins put the Bearcats back in front, 5-4, with 8:06 left in the half, but the Pacers answered with the quarter's final goal to tie the game at 5-5 at the break.
 
The two teams would trade goals in the opening stages of the third quarter, before Cassidy's score, assisted by Jacob Crumling, put the Bearcats in front 8-7 with 4:17 left in the quarter. Hawkins followed with a goal two minutes later to give the Bearcats a two-goal lead heading into the final 15 minutes.
 
Less than 40 seconds into the fourth quarter, Billet completed the hat trick, assisted by Hawkins, to increase the Bearcat lead to 10-7, and, just 20 seconds later, Visalli netted his second of the night to push the SVC advantage to 11-7. With just under 10 minutes left, William Peace's Drew Von Werne scored to pull his team to within three, but the Bearcats put the game away with Nagy, Visalli and Coholich each scoring over the final 5:35 of regulation.
 
Along with forcing 14 William Peace turnovers, the Bearcat defense also went a perfect 14-for-14 on clear attempts, while killing off 9 of 11 William Peace man-up opportunities, including a 6-for-7 rate over the decisive second half.  
 
Von Werne, Gregory Liebman and William Murray all had two goals to lead William Peace, while Daniel Ando recorded 14 saves in goal in the loss.
 
Saint Vincent will now have a short turnaround before continuing its busy week with a road game at Greensboro College on Thursday, March 9, at 1 p.m.