Franklin Springs, GA – The Emmanuel Men's Lacrosse team hosted the Lees McRae Bobcats in conference action tonight. The Lions jumped out to an early lead, taking a 10-5 lead into the break. The Bobcats responded well in the 2^nd half, scoring 7 goals in the 4^th quarter but the Lions held on to earn the 19-15 win. With the win, the Lions move to 7-4 on the season, 2-2 in conference play.

Joshua Fodchuk got the scoring started for the Lions with a goal 20 seconds into the game, assisted by Graeson Amundson to make it 1-0, Lions. Luke Hildebrandt found the net next, with 14:23 to play in the 1^st, assisted by Fodchuk to give the Lions a 2-0 lead. The Bobcats answered to make it 2-1, but the Lions weren't done. Jared Weiss scored with 11:28 to go in the 1^st to make it 3-1, Lions and Griffin Gibson-Thomas pushed the Lions lead to 4-1, assisted by Ryland Laturell with 10:01 left in the quarter. Lees McRae cut the Lions lead to 4-3 with back-to-back goals, but the Lions closed out the 1^st quarter with goals by Fodchuk, assisted by Kyler Andrews and Weiss to make it 6-2 heading to the 2^nd. 

Fodchuk found the net for his third goal of the game with 10:02 to play in the 2^nd, assisted by Griffin-Thomas to give the Lions a 7-3 lead. The Bobcats answered to make it 7-4, but the Lions roared back with a 3-0 scoring run. Hildebrandt (assisted by Laturell) made it 8-4 with 6:36 to play in the half and Gibson-Thomas added goal (assisted by Fodchuk) to go up 9-4. With 3:26 to play before the half, Tanner Park got into the action with a goal assisted by Laturell to make it 10-4. The Bobcats scored in the last minute of the half to make it 10-5 heading into the break. 

The third quarter kicked off with a goal by the Bobcats to make it 10-6. The Lions answered with a 3-0 run with goals by Park (assisted by Gibson-Thomas), Hildebrandt (assisted by Laturell) and Laturell (assisted by Hildebrandt) to make the score 13-6, Lions. The Bobcats scored to make it 13-7, but the Lions scored the next two with a goal by Park with 7:45 to play in the quarter, assisted by Hildebrandt and Hildebrandt, assisted by Park to make it 15-7, Lions. The Bobcats made it 15-8 with 3:46 to go in the 3^rd, but the Lions closed the quarter out strong with a 2-0 run, with goals by Laturell with 1:41 to play and Park (assisted by Weiss) with five seconds to play to make it 17-8. 

The Bobcats opened up the 4^th quarter with a 3-0 run to make it 17-11. David Runchey scored for the Lions with 7:32 to play to push the Lions lead to 18-11.  Lees McRae scored the next two to make it 18-13. Weiss scored the final goal for the Lions to go up 19-13, but the Bobcats made things interesting late, scoring two goals in the final two minutes of the game to make the final score 19-15.

Tanner Park and Luke Hildebrandt led the Lions in scoring with 4 goals apiece, with Joshua Fodchuck and Jared Weiss adding 3 apiece. Ryland Laturell had 4 assists on the night to lead the team, while Nick Pilon had 18 saves in goal. 

The Lions will be back in action on Saturday at home as they host Young Harris in conference action at noon.

For more information on Emmanuel University athletics, visit goeulions.com.