For Immediate Release – 4/18/17 - #301
Lindenbaum's Career-Day Not Enough for WildCats

LYNCHBURG, VA – Matt Lindenbaum set a new career-high in saves on Tuesday, but the Randolph College men's lacrosse team fell to Methodist University 11-9 in a nonconference tilt.

Both goalies made early saves in the game, keeping the score at zero, but it would be the Monarchs who got on the board first.  Chris Lombardi caught a pass from Jay Robinson to break the early deadlock.  However, the 'Cats responded shortly after.  Spencer Matthews forced a turnover to get the ball to Randolph.  Mitch MacDonald then caught the ball on the right side, pump-faked his defender, and tied the game with a near post shot.

Once again, Lindenbaum and his counterpart, Jackson Bingham, were called on to make stops.  After Bingham made one, Ryan Campbell ended a clear attempt with a CT, and then helped out on the next goal.  He stood behind the cage and fired a pass up top to Brett Pausic.  Pausic rocketed it into the net for the lead.   However, despite four more saves from Lindenbaum, MU took a 3-2 advantage into the second.

The Monarchs kept that run going in the beginning of the second.  The visitors were able to push their lead to 6-2 halfway through the period.  However, the 'Cats stormed back for the rest of the period.  The offense started it with some nifty passing.  Graham Southwick made a quick pass to MacDonald, and he found Scott Wilkinson on the crease for the goal.  Two minutes later, Matthews made a nice play to keep the ball on the offensive zone after a ball bounced to the midfield line.  Campbell sprinted down and hit MacDonald, who cut back door to score the goal.

Shane Soghomonian kept the run going as he scored after a successful clear with 1:10 on the clock.  Then in the waning moments of the half, Lindenbaum made a great save and fired the ball down field.  There was a scrum around the cage, and Josh Yeast tapped in to tie the score at six before the horn sounded.

Methodist came back and grabbed the early momentum of the second half.  Lindenbaum had two more stops, but the Monarchs made it 8-6 just over four minutes in.  However, once again, the WildCats responded.  Campbell picked up the ground ball on the following faceoff.  After working some clock down, he dodged toward the crease and beat his defender.  It was one-on-one with the goalie, and he tallied the goal.

The Monarchs were the next to score, extending the lead to two.  But the game would be tied at the end of the period.  On a man-up, Soghomonian cut down the middle of the defense, and Jacob Galenski hit him from the side.  Soghomonian scored to halve the deficit.  Seven seconds later, Southwick tallied off a pass from Prince Charles, after he won the faceoff. 

The remaining 19 minutes of the game featured far fewer fireworks.  MU was the only team able to find the back of the net, tallying twice and sealing the win despite the play of the Randolph defense.

Lindenbaum had a career-high 20 saves in the game.   He also added eight ground balls and his first-career assist on the day.  Campbell picked up five to go along with his three points, while Matthews had six and three caused turnovers.  Bingham had 14 saves in the win for Methodist (13-3 overall).

Randolph (4-10, 0-6 ODAC) will return to Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) play on Saturday.  The WildCats travel to Virginia Wesleyan College (2-10, 0-5) for a 1 p.m. contest.

One important piece to note about the game is the fact that Randolph wore yellow showlaces.  It is part of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) initiative to raise awareness for pediatric cancer.  SAAC and Randolph athletics has been partnering with Go 4 The Goal, where $4 of every pair of yellow shoelaces goes to supporting families battling the disease.  For more information or to help support the cause, go to http://www.go4thegoal.org/.

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