Tigers junior attackman Jack Hayden scored four goals, but No. 3 Hampden-Sydney College (H-SC) lost 20-11 to host No. 2 University of Lynchburg on Saturday in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Men’s Lacrosse Tournament semifinals, according to a H-SC Athletics press release.

Senior captain attackman John Burke added three goals and one assist for the visiting Tigers, who finished their season with a final record of 13-6 overall, officials said in the release. They added that the host and nationally-ranked No. 20 Hornets improved to 13-5, and will play at No. 1 seed and nationally ranked No. 17 Washington and Lee University in the ODAC Championship on Sunday.

The release noted that H-SC and Lynchburg were playing for the second time in a week after the Hornets took a 20-10 win against the Tigers April 27 in Lynchburg. In addition, the conference tournament semifinal had originally been scheduled for Friday night in Lexington at top seed Washington and Lee, but severe weather conditions forced postponement of the contest, causing it to be rescheduled for Saturday and moved to Lynchburg due to Washington and Lee hosting the ODAC Women’s Lacrosse Tournament semifinals and championship as well.

The Tigers and Hornets battled close early in the contest with the host taking a narrow 6-5 advantage after one quarter, officials cited in the release. The visitors did fall behind 3-0 before getting three consecutive goals to tie it at 3-3. Scoring were Burke, at the 10-minute 2-second mark, assisted by freshman defenseman Grayson Ackaway, along with back-to-back unassisted goals from Hayden and sophomore attackman Jake O’Brien, respectively, at 7:46 and 6:49. 

The release stated that following two more goals by the Hornets, H-SC sophomore midfielder Davis Hatch closed the opening quarter scoring with another unassisted goal at 3:07.

Hampden-Sydney scored the first two goals of the second quarter to take a 6-5 lead with 12:53 left until halftime, as freshman midfielder Sean Duffy tallied at 13:57 with an assist from sophomore midfielder Charlie Doetzer, and Burke notched another unassisted goal at 12:53, officials said in the release. Unfortunately, Lynchburg scored the next five unanswered goals to lead 10-6 at the intermission.

The Hornets outscored the Tigers 3-2 in a low-scoring third quarter to lead 13-8 going into the final quarter, the release noted. H-SC received third-quarter goals from Hayden, unassisted, at 8:10, and sophomore attackman Jared Medwar at 4:02, assisted by Burke.

Officials in the release cited that Lynchburg used a 7-3 fourth period scoring advantage to provide for the final margin. Hampden-Sydney goals were scored by Burke, unassisted, at 8:22, Hayden at 7:29, assisted by Duffy, and Hayden closed it out for the Tigers with another unassisted goal at 1:45.

H-SC junior captain and goalie Nick Arcuri started and played the first 58:15, allowing 19 goals with 13 saves, officials stated. Senior goalie Nick Steen played the final 1:45, yielding one goal with one save.

The release highlighted how Tigers sophomore midfielder Jake Brummett was 15-for-18 on faceoffs and collected nine ground balls. Freshman midfielder Kevin Dunne was 5-for-9 on faceoffs, with two ground balls.

Officials concluded the release by stating that senior captain John Burke completed his final collegiate season with 33 goals and 47 assists, the latter of which is a new school season record. His 80 points this season ranks third-best all-time. Burke completes his career with 69 goals and 79 assists, the latter of which is fifth all-time, for 148 points, which is 15th all-time.