(RV) Men's Lacrosse wrapped up the regular season on Friday and Saturday splitting their final two games.
Friday, Benedictine earned a 21-5 win over Clarke University before falling 19-11 to St. Ambrose University.
Against the Pride on Friday, the Ravens jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first quarter on goals scored by Paul Gordon, James Carson, Joseph Bianchi, and Joey Calabria. By halftime, the Ravens increased their lead to 10-0 with that lead extending to 11-0 in the third quarter on a goal from Jordan Rodriguez before Clarke scored its first goal of the game.
Benedictine finished the game with a 48--22 advantage in shots with 58 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers as Clarke committed 28.
Rodriguez led the Ravens offense with 5 goals and 2 assists. Mac Postel Jr. added 4 goals and 3 assists while Calabria finished with 4 goals. Bianchi added 3 goals and 1 assist while Carson was joined by Ty Beyer and Davis McMullen with one goal each.
Jerry Dalrymple earned the win in goal, finishing the game with 10 saves. Bianchi anchored possession for the Ravens winning 21 of 22 faceoffs while Liam Waldron won 5 of 7. Drew Doran anchored the defensive effort with 5 caused turnovers. Luke Besheer added 3 while Carson Huerter and Charley McGlinn added 2 each.
In the loss on Saturday to St. Ambrose, the two teams exchanged goals to start the game. Postel Jr. scored the first goal of the game for the Ravens before SAU answered with 4 straight to take the lead. Rodriguez added his first goal of the game later in the quarter as SAU took a 6-2 lead into the second quarter.
The Fighting Bees outscored the Ravens 4-1 in the second quarter to take a 10-3 lead at the half. Benedictine matched SAU with five goals in the third quarter but couldn't complete the comeback as the Fighting Bees were able to add 4 more goals in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
Rodriguez led the Ravens attack with 4 goals and 4 assists. Carson and Charlee Louree added 3 goals each to go with the goal scored by Postel Jr. Bianchi added 1 assist as he finished 12 of 24 on faceoffs.
Dalrymple suffered the loss in goal, finishing with 11 saves. Doran and McGlinn finished with 2 caused turnovers each.
With the split, the Ravens finished in a three-way tie for second place in the final Heart of America Athletic Conference standings. As a result, they will earn the No. 4 seed in next week's Heart Men's Lacrosse Championship as they lost the goal differential percentage tie-breaker to Mount Vernon Nazarene and St. Ambrose.
Benedictine will open up the Heart Championship with a semifinal trip to Oskaloosa, Iowa, at 6 p.m. Wednesday to take on top-seeded and No. 9-ranked William Penn University.
