Franklin Springs, GA – The Emmanuel Men's Lacrosse team hosted Young Harris this afternoon in a Senior Day matchup. The matchup was competitive from the start, but the Lions edged the Mountain Lions to earn a 16-14 win on senior day. With the win, the Lions move to 8-4 on the season, 3-2 in conference.

Griffin Gibson-Thomas got things started for the Lions with a goal (assisted by Ryland Laturell) to give Emmanuel a 1-0 lead. The Mountain Lions answered to tie the game at 1-1, but Laturell found the net with 9:03 to play in the quarter (assisted by Jared Weiss) to make it 2-1, Lions. Young Harris tied it up at 2-2 with 7:38 to play in the quarter, but Gibson-Thomas grabbed his second goal of the game (assisted by Weiss) with 3:58 in the first to give the Lions a 3-2 lead after the first. 

Laturell kept things going for the Lions with a goal to kick off the 2^nd quarter to make it 4-2, Lions, but the Mountain Lions answered to cut the lead to 4-3. Luke Hildebrandt made it 5-3 (assisted by Tanner Park) with 7:10 to play in the quarter, but the Mountain Lions answered again to cut the Lions lead to 5-4.  Another score from Laturell made it 6-4, Lions (assisted by Hildebrandt) with 1:48 to play until the break, but Young Harris responded to make it 6-5 at the break. 

The third quarter started with another goal from Hildebrandt (assisted by Graeson Amundson) to give the Lions a 7-5 lead. Young Harris would respond to cut the Lions lead to 7-6. Tanner Park made it 8-6, Lions with 12:02 to play in the quarter, assisted by Gibson-Thomas but Young Harris quickly scored to cut it to 8-7. Gibson-Thomas scored his third of the day (assisted by Park) to make it 9-7, Lions but Young Harris responded to cut the Lions lead to 9-8. The Lions scored the next two to pull ahead. Laturell scored (assisted by Gibson-Thomas) to give the Lions a 10-8 lead, then Gibson-Thomas found the net for the fourth time of the day (assisted by Laturell) to make it 11-8 with 8:43 to play in the 3^rd. The Mountain Lions scored in the final minutes of the quarter to make it 11-9 after the third. 

Joshua Fodchuk started the 4^th quarter off with a goal for the Lions, (assisted by Laturell) to make it 12-9. Young Harris answered to make it 12-10, but Jared Weiss would go on to score 3 consecutive goals (assists by L. Hildebrandt, Gibson-Thomas, and Ethan Hildebrandt) to give the Lions a 15-10 lead. The Mountain Lions would score the next four to cut the Lions lead to 15-14, but Luke Hildebrandt would score the final goal of the game to make the final score 16-14, Lions. 

Griffin Gibson-Thomas and Ryland Laturell led the way for the Lions with 4 goals apiece, with Jared Weiss and Luke Hildebrandt each scoring 3. Griffin Gibson-Thomas and Ryland Laturell each had 3 assists on the afternoon with Nick Pilon adding 11 saves in goal. 

The Lions will be back in action on Wednesday at Shorter at 4PM. For more information on Emmanuel University athletics, visit gouelions.com.