ANNVILLE, Pa. (March 23) – Carter Haid's goal with 1:43 remaining in the fourth quarter lifted the Saint Vincent College men's lacrosse team to an 11-10 victory at Lebanon Valley College.
 
The Bearcats (2-6) led 9-6 midway through the third quarter, before the Flying Dutchmen (4-5) scored four of the game's next five goals to tie the game at 10 with under three minutes left in the fourth quarter, setting the stage for Haid's unassisted game-winner.
 
Jordan Billet registered four goals to lead the SVC offense, while Caleb Hawkins was a second Bearcat with multiple tallies, scoring three times. Haid, Jacob Crumling, Tyler Harpst and Liam McCall also found the net for SVC, while McCall added two assists for a three-point day.
 
Fueled by a 13-for-22 performance in the faceoff circle, Brady Beard led all players with seven ground balls in his 2024 debut, while nine of his SVC teammates scooped up two ground balls apiece. RJ Kenna and AJ Bricker each were credited with two caused turnovers to pace the SVC defense.
 
Garrett Ritts went the distance in goal for the Bearcats, finishing with 10 saves to earn the win.
 
The Bearcats got off to a hot start, with Billet and Hawkins each scoring in the game's opening minute to stake the visitors out to an early 2-0 lead. The Flying Dutchmen cut it in half with a tally midway through the half, before SVC closed the quarter with a flurry, as Billet scored twice and McCall once over the final 1:30 to put the Bearcats in front 5-1 after 15 minutes of play.
 
The teams exchanged goals in the opening six minutes of the second quarter, with Harpst's tally with 8:58 left making the score 6-2 in favor of the visitors, before the Flying Dutchmen countered with two unanswered goals in a 70-second span to cut the deficit to 6-4, which is how the score stood at the intermission.
 
A Lebanon Valley goal in the opening minute of the third quarter quickly made it a one-goal game, before Hawkins and Billet each scored over the next 1:30 to increase the SVC lead to 8-5. Three minutes later, Hawkins answered a Lebanon Valley goal with his third of the game to push the lead back to three, but the Flying Dutchmen eventually closed the gap to 9-7 heading into the final frame.
 
After neither team found the net in the opening five minutes of the fourth quarter, Lebanon Valley scored the game's next goal to again make it a one-goal game, 9-8, with 9:42 left. Less than a minute later, Crumling's unassisted tally again increased the margin to two goals, but the Flying Dutchmen scored the next two goals to tie the game at 10 with 2:46 left.
 
Beard won the ensuing faceoff, and after a timeout, the Bearcats had a long possession inside its offensive zone. With the shot clock under 20 seconds, Haid faked a pass and then wound up and fired a blast from 10 yards out, beating the goalie low to put the Bearcats in front with 1:43 remaining.
 
Beard again won the next faceoff and the Bearcats ran the shot clock down to zero, giving the Flying Dutchmen possession with 14 seconds left. They cleared it into the offensive zone and called a timeout with seven seconds left, but turned the ball over on their final possession to clinch the win for the Bearcats.
 
Led by Beard's effort, Saint Vincent won 15 of the game's 24 faceoffs. The Bearcats also held a 28-18 advantage in ground balls and were an impressive 17-for-19 in clears.
 
The Bearcats will now turn their attention to Presidents' Athletic Conference play, as they will open the conference slate on Wednesday, March 27, with a 7 p.m. bout at Franciscan University.