North Kentucky News

Patriots Set Pair of Program Records in Win over Skyhawks

The fourth-ranked UC men's lacrosse team set a pair of team records, while Nathan Foskey made a program-best 21 saves as the Patriots defeated the Skyhawks 19-7 Saturday afternoon.  With the win, UC improves to 7-1 on the season and 2-0 in AAC play.

After coming in to start the second quarter Foskey made 11 stops in the fourth quarter and 17 in the second half as he surpassed Dakota Lambing previous record of 20 saves set back on March 19, 2016 against St. Mary. Cumberlands broke the team record for saves with 22 as Michael Toohey added a save in the first quarter. Nik Kubik went 13-14 on faceoffs, while Michael Adams won a career-high 10 faceoffs to help lead UC to 24 faceoff wins, which was also a program record.

Offensively, nine different Patriots record goals, including six who had multiple goals in the win.  Christian Vanover led the way with three goals and two assists, while Dawson Coltran and Tanner Popovich each netted a hat trick.  Will Rogers chipped in four points as Nick Kava and Dom Lulow each tallied multiple goals in the win.

Both teams made a save in the opening minute of the first quarter before the Christian Vanover got the scoring started with a goal and an assists in the first three minutes.  Nik Kubik won the ensuing faceoff and on that possession Tanner Popovich put a well-placed shot into the cage to make it 3-0 with 11:25 remaining.  The Patriots defense tallied three caused turnovers, including a pair from Taylor Long, before goals from Vanover and Popovich extended the lead to 6-0 with 3:18 remaining.  Cumberlands added three more goals before the end the quarter to make it 9-0 in favor of the Pats.

The Patriots won the opening faceoff on the second quarter as Taylor Long found Popovich for a goal to extend the lead to 10-0.  Minutes later Maalek Wilson found Coltran cutting towards the cage for a goal making it 11-0. The two teams traded goals twice as Wilson netted an unassisted goal in the closing minute of the half to make it 14-2.

Lulow and Coltran each added a goal in the first four minutes of the third quarter giving UC a 16-3 edge.  The score remained that way until the 8:20 mark when Kava connected with the back of the cage making it 17-3.  Foskey made four saves over the final eight minutes of play while the Skyhawks scored twice to make it 17-5 heading into the fourth quarter. 

Three minutes into the fourth quarter Foskey added another save, while on the ensuing transition Kava found Zachary Swann for a goal making it 18-6 with 11:53 remaining.  Foskey added five consecutive saves, over a four-minute span before Taylor Long added a goal making it 19-6.  Foskey added four more saves in the period for the 19-7 final. 

Original source can be found here.