DANVILLE, Va.- The Randolph men's lacrosse team played its ODAC opener on Saturday afternoon against Averett. The WildCats turned in a solid defensive performance as they held off a late Averett rally to win 10-8.
Randolph improves to 3-5 on the season and is 1-0 in the conference.
The Cougars led 2-0 with 11:11 remaining in the first quarter. Randolph got on the scoreboard as Chase Callan (Fredericksburg, Va.) scored off an assist by Jordan Nutter (Fredericksburg, Va./Courtland HS) at 10:04. The WildCats pushed ahead 5-2 with goals by Chase and Cooper Callan (Fredericksburg, Va./Massaponax), Noah Callahan (Bristow, Va./Brentsville District HS), and Jacob Bucceri (Spotsylvania, Va./Caroline HS).
The second quarter was scoreless until 8:41 when Averett made it a 5-3 game and then scored again to put the score at 5-4. Randolph tallied two scores to lead 7-4 at halftime.
The WildCats added to their lead in the third quarter as Nutter scored at 11:14 to give Randolph an 8-4 advantage. Averett closed its deficit to two at 8-6 but another goal by Bucceri with under a minute remaining in the quarter upped the 'Cats lead to 9-6.
The fourth period was a stalemate for over half of the quarter as both defenses stood firm. Randolph broke through at 6:51 to go up 10-6. Averett scored twice within 38 seconds to make it a 10-8 contest with 5:27 left in regulation. Randolph keeper Keegan Slider (Saluda, Va./Christchurch School) came up with two saves while an Averett shot with 2:09 remaining hit the post as the WildCats were able hold off any thought of a Cougar comeback attempt.
Chase Callan led with three goals and picked up two groundballs. Callahan and Bucceri both had three-point days (2g, 1a). Nutter scored once and assisted on a second goal as did Cooper Callan. Parker Eastman (Ruther Glen, Va./Riverbend) scored once. Josh Parker (Fort Moore, Ga./North Stafford HS) finished with four assists.
Kalon Ross (Landover, Md./Central HS) had a team-high eight groundballs and four caused turnovers. Slider tied a season-high with 19 saves and also had six groundball pickups.
Randolph returns home to host Virginia Wesleyan on Wednesday. Game time from WildCat Stadium will be at 4:00 p.m.