Limestone teammates Zachary Terry and Nate Senez combined for 24 points to lead the Hawkeyes to a 25-7 victory over the Rapids Monday night. The first-place Hawkeyes improved to 4-0, while the Rapids fell to 0-3.
Terry’s stick was hot from the second he stepped onto the floor. He scored low-to-low from the outside 22 seconds into the game and then again less than a minute later. He ended the day with an Upstate Collegiate Box Lacrosse League record of 10 goals, breaking Luke Pilcher’s mark of nine from 2021.
“The message from our coaches is it doesn’t matter if you think you’re the better team or not. You’ve still got to play like you would if you weren’t the best team,” Terry said. “It’s all a mindset. You just gotta play your game as a team and that’s what happens.”
The Hawkeyes were led by 13 points (10+3) from Terry, but his college teammate Nate Senez (1+10) was pulling all the strings with 10 assists. Colt Green (2+5) tallied a season-high seven points, while Thomas Gravino put up two goals and three assists. Taylor Jungermann (six saves) played three quarters before being relieved by John Buck, who made two stops.
Coming into the game, the shorthanded Rapids were missing 10 players, including their starting goalie. Vincent Fiorella (3+2) led the group with five points, while Joseph Montour Jr. (0+4) and Liam Keane (3+1) each tallied four. Nathan Weise made his box lacrosse debut with 18 saves in the Rapids crease.
As with most Hawkeyes games, Quinn Nolan won possession for the green and gold like it was nothing and gave his team just the start they needed. It got out of hand quickly, though. With 10 minutes to go in the quarter, the Hawkeyes scored a goal on every offensive possession.
Fiorella put the Rapids on the board early, but it was quickly snuffed out by a nine-goal run through the remainder of the quarter. The transition game was alive and well, with three goals in a row off the fast break. The Hawkeyes led 12-1 at the end of the first, and from there, both teams decided to shift to 12-minute periods for the remainder of the game.
The Rapids put up their best fight in the second quarter. They outscored the Hawkeyes 3-2 thanks to two power-play goals by Keane, each assisted by Montour Jr. The penalties only slowed down the defending champs.
The Hawkeyes put on the works again in the third. Senez assisted five goals from the low right side, while Terry scored four goals from the high left wing. Nolan also got in on the scoring in the third, taking a quick jog toward the crease after scooping up the faceoff and scoring with ease. They led 22-5 after three quarters.
“Everyone was moving the ball. We were working on stuff we had to work on,” Terry said. “Everyone was hitting their shots. Everyone was moving the ball. No one was being selfish. We were just getting in the right positions and playing as a team.”
In the fourth, the Hawkeyes still scored three goals but allowed two in transition from Fiorella. Each of his goals in the final frame came from Montour Jr. and Xavier Taylor pushing the ball in transition and finding Fiorella as the first forward out the O-door.
The last goal of the night was by Titus Chapman for his first goal of the game to make the final score 25-7. The Hawkeyes return to action on July 11 against the Armory at Blue Cross Arena.
The Rapids will have their players back next time out and will look to improve their performance against the Buffaloes at the Classic Rink on July 8.