Huntingdon uses big fourth quarter to put away North Central College

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Huntingdon men's lacrosse team was in a battle for three quarters on Monday.

But the fourth quarter belonged to the Hawks. Huntingdon scored eight goals in the final quarter and downed North Central College 13-5.

The win was the third straight for the Hawks and the ninth in 10 games this season.

Leading 5-4 after three quarters on Monday, Huntingdon scored seven straight goals to put the game away. Mac Puller scored the first goal of the fourth quarter to make it 6-4 with 12:12 left in the game.

In a little more than seven minutes, the Hawks turned the two-goal lead into an 11-4 lead after one goal each from Kendrick Ballard, Miles Stading, Seth Howe, Adrian Harper and Austen Saucier.

Harper's second goal of the quarter made it 12-4 before Stading scored the final goal of the game to make it 13-5.                         

Harper and freshman Bryce Coates each finished the game with three goals and Ballard and Stading each had two goals and an assist. Puller had one goal and one assist, Saucier and Howe each had one goal and Zach Barnhill, Jackson Schrampfer and Caleb Bohrer each had one assist.

Sam Hitt was 16-for-18 on faceoffs and had 11 ground balls. Entering Monday's game, Hitt was ranked fifth in Division III with 117 faceoffs won this season.

Huntingdon goalie Matt Murphy recorded eight saves in 13 shots on goal.

Records: Huntingdon (9-1); North Central College (3-3)

Coming Up: Huntingdon plays at Piedmont on Wednesday at 6 p.m. (Central). The two teams sit at the top of the USA South Athletic Conference standings. Huntingdon enters the game with a 3-0 conference record and Piedmont enters the game with a 2-0 conference record.