BETHANY, W.V.- The Randolph men's lacrosse team played its final non-conference game of the season on Saturday as it traveled to Bethany College. The WildCats fell behind early but nearly rallied late in the fourth quarter as the Bison held off the 'Cats 20-14.
Bethany scored the game's first goal seven seconds into the first quarter to go ahead 1-0. Randolph answered back to take the lead with goals by Michael Baldwin (Culpepper, Va./Liberty HS) and Noah Callahan (Bristow, Va./Brentsville District HS). The Bison took the lead back to go up 3-2 with under five minutes left in the quarter. A man-up goal by Ethan Caldwell (Santa Fe, N.M./Santa Fe Prep School) tied it up at 3-all at 3:53. Bethany pushed ahead to lead 5-3 at the conclusion of the first period.
The Bison pulled further ahead of the WildCats as they scored six straight times to take an 11-3 lead with eight minutes remaining in the second quarter. A Leyton Brightly (Spotsylvania, Va./James Monroe) score ended the Bethany goal streak at the 6:42 mark. Randolph started a streak of its own as it rattled off three more goals to cut the Bison lead to 11-7 with 1:45 showing on the game clock. The Bison netted two more goals to lead 13-7 at the break.
Caldwell's goal 39 seconds into the third quarter made it 13-8. Bethany outscored the WildCats 5-0 to make it 18-8 heading into the final quarter of play.
Randolph started the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run of its own as cut into the Bison lead and trailed 18-13 with 5:48 remaining to play. The two teams would alternate goals with Bethany maintaining a six-goal advantage to stave off the WildCat comeback attempt.
The WildCats led in total shots 65-46 and in shots on goal 37-34. Groundballs were also in their favor 41-37 and the team won 21 faceoffs compared to 15 for the Bison.
Baldwin led Randolph with five goals on the day. Caldwell finished with four and added three assists for a seven-point afternoon. Brightly also had four goals to go with one assist. Callahan scored once, picked up five groundballs, caused two turnovers, and was 5-of-6 on faceoffs. Chase Callan (Fredericksburg, Va./Massaponax) tallied two assists and two caused turnovers. Nathan Pradachith (Alexandria, Va./Edison) had one assist and a season-high 11 groundballs.
Adam Ulffers (Greenville, N.C./J.H. Rose HS) played 40:27 in the cage and finished with 11 saves. Keegan Slider (Saluda, Va./Christchurch School) came in for 19:33 and had three saves.
Randolph returns to ODAC play as it goes up against #14/13 Lynchburg on Tuesday night. Game time from Shellenberger Field will be 7:00 pm.
