After a lengthy layoff of nearly a month, the Elon University men’s club lacrosse team returned to action April 5 and pulled out a 10-7 victory over the visiting 49ers of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte on Senior Day at Rhodes Stadium.
The Phoenix last played on the weekend of March 8-9 in Palm Gardens, Fla., where it split a pair of games against Grove City College and Emmanuel College. Following these games, Elon climbed to as high as No. 5 in the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) Coaches’ Poll, but dropped to No. 9 in the most recent poll after the long layoff.
Junior attack Gordon Bailey got Elon going quickly against the division rival 49ers, scoring two goals in the first quarter, one in which Bailey deked a Charlotte defender while coming from behind the net to score. After 15 minutes of play, the Phoenix led, 2-0.
Josh Ford got the 49ers on the board at the 12:46 mark of the second quarter, but Bailey answered less than three minutes later with another goal to make it 3-1 in favor of the Phoenix.
A turning point in the game came with just minutes left in the half. While controlling the ball in the Charlotte zone, Elon called a timeout to regroup. Senior midfielder Dylan Herbert delivered out of the timeout by finding the back of the net with just over two minutes to play in the half. The Phoenix continued to keep the pressure on before halftime and was rewarded with another goal, this time from sophomore attack Sebastian King, which gave Elon a 5-1 lead at halftime.
“As my college coach would always say, a two-goal swing is huge,” Elon head coach Matt Ward said. “Any time you can rattle off two or three in a row, it has a good ability to break morale. It’s good for us, bad for them.”
The Phoenix dominated play early in the second half, leading to two more goals in the first five minutes to stretch its lead to 7-1. Junior midfielder Travis Elliot-Knaggs delivered the first goal at 12:10, while Herbert added another two minutes later. After three quarters of play, the Phoenix led the 49ers, 8-4.
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Charlotte cut the lead to three with a goal at 13:46, but the Phoenix was once again able to answer with a goal of its own at the 7:38 mark. The 49ers continued to fight back, as freshman midfielder Eric Maritato’s goal made it 9-6 with less than six minutes remaining. Just 15 seconds later, the Phoenix lead was cut to two after freshman Josh Ford scored for the 49ers.
Down the stretch, sophomore goalie Joey McLaughlin was huge for the Phoenix, and made a number of big saves to preserve Elon’s lead.
“Joey is awesome,” said senior defenseman and team captain Steve McDonald. “He keeps us in these games. We’re good on defense but when we get a little lazy, he steps up huge and makes a difference.”
Bailey was able to put the game away for the Phoenix by scoring with under five minutes to play, his fourth goal of the game. The junior leads the team with 13 goals on the season.
“Last year, we didn’t take care of business on senior day,” Ward said. “These guys love playing at home, especially in the stadium, so it’s always important to send these seniors out on a good note.”
Elon currently sits atop the North West division with a record of 6-1 and 2-0 in the SouthEastern Lacrosse Conference (SELC). Elon has games remaining against Coastal Carolina University, Davidson College and Briarcliffe College before the playoffs begin in a few weeks. According to Ward and McDonald, playing together as a team will be a point of emphasis in these final tune-ups for the playoffs.
“It’s the team game that we’re looking to improve, and that’s what really gets you through especially our divisional games and in the conference tournament,” said Ward. “You can have the best individual players in the world, but if you’re not playing as a team when you go to that conference tournament, it’s all for nothing, you’re going to be one and done.”
“It’s about who’s going to be together at the end of the day; the guy on your right and the guy on your left. We have good individual players, but when we mesh as a unit, it’s pretty awesome,” McDonald said.