DANVILLE, Va. – The Brevard College men's lacrosse team (0-2) returned to action on Friday afternoon, falling by a final of 13-7 to the Averett University Cougars (4-1) in Danville, Virginia.
Six goals in the fourth quarter, including five unanswered scores, helped propel the hosts to the non-conference victory over Brevard.
Senior attacker Sam Duffie logged a season-high four goals with an assist for a game-best five points on the afternoon. Freshman midfielder Nate Stone added his first two collegiate scores, while Jack Davis also found the back of the net for the first time in his college career. Goalkeeper Devin McCarragher totaled a new career-high with 16 saves, while Nate Ellen snagged a team-best five ground balls and Trystan Wallace caused a pair of turnovers.
Three Cougars had multi-goal performances, with Mike Michaud leading the charge with a hat-trick performance of three goals, while Liam Taylor and Connor Taft each logged a pair of scores.
As a team, Averett was able to outshoot Brevard by a controlling 55-20 mark. The Cougars grabbed 46 ground balls and won 18-of-23 faceoffs while successfully clearing 12-of-15 attempts. The Tornados scored their first goal of the season on the power play, going 1-for-2 on man-up situations.
Duffie got things going quickly for Brevard, as the Columbia, South Carolina native scored just 16 seconds into the contest to put BC on top, 1-0. Averett put a trio of scores past the BC defense the rest of the way in the first quarter to take a 3-1 advantage into the second period.
Stone scored his first collegiate goal on a Duffie assist with 7:10 left in the second stanza to bring Brevard back within a single goal. The Cougars were able to find the back of the net twice before halftime, extending their slim lead out to a 5-2 margin.
The Tornados stormed back in the early stages of the third period, led by a pair of Duffie strikes and a Stone score that tied the contest with 11:46 left in the third quarter at 5-5. Averett answered back with a pair of goals within a minute of each other, pushing their lead back up to a two-goal, 7-5 advantage.
Duffie found the back of the net for the fourth time – and the third time in the third period – to bring BC back within one score with 7:32 left in the third stanza. Averett was able to maintain its one-goal advantage, 7-6, heading into the fourth and final period.
A pair of Averett goals just 17 seconds apart extended the Cougar lead out to a three-goal margin, 9-6. Brevard's first man-up score came at the 9:15 mark, as Davis found the back of the nylon for the first time as a Tornado. The Cougars were able to shut the door on the contest, scoring four goals over the course of five minutes to take the victory, 13-7.
Brevard is scheduled to return to action on Saturday, March 20 when the Tornados travel to Demorest, Georgia to face Piedmont College in BC's conference opener, with start-time slated for 12 p.m.
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