DEMOREST, Ga. – Piedmont men’s lacrosse left no doubt in a 19-9 home win against Hendrix on a beautiful Thursday evening in Demorest.
The win marks four in a row for the Lions heading into a big USA South matchup at Pfeiffer this coming Saturday.
Eyler was the breakout star of the game, racing past his previous season high with seven goals in the contest. His seven goals this season matches the team high in a game, set by Josh Tamarkin last time out at Oglethorpe. On a historic note, senior Zach Avila reached the 100 career point milestone with three assists.
He was not the only freshman to record a hat trick, however, as fellow newcomer Trenton Steeves added three goals and an assist, scoring twice in the opening quarter. Tamarkin was finding open Lions all day, with a season-best five assists to lead the team.
Junior faceoff specialist John Dieterly led the way with 12 faceoff wins and eight ground balls.
Defense won the opening five minutes until the Warriors opened the scoring to briefly lead 1-0. However, the Lions did not trail long, as freshman Tate Claudio answered less than a minute later to tie the score, followed by a Tamarkin goal put Piedmont in front less than 30 seconds later.
Piedmont then raced out to a big lead throughout the remaining of the first half, locking down the Hendrix offense and taking advantage of its own scoring chances to take a 10-4 lead to the break.
The second half saw Eyler take over the game, scoring the team’s first two goals to open the third quarter before recording three goals in the fourth quarter alone as the Lions put the finishing touches on their fourth straight win.
Senior Zach Avila barely beat the clock, finding Eyler for the team’s final goal in the closing seconds and recording his 100th career point in the process.
Up next, the Lions are set for a showdown with USA South rival Pfeiffer on the road this Saturday, March 28 at 1 p.m.
TURNING POINT:
– Piedmont went on a 5-0 scoring run midway through the opening quarter to establish control of the game.
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:
– Eyler’s seven goals marks a season high for the freshman and also the second game in a row in which a Lion has reached the seven goal mark.
NEWS AND NOTES:
– Avila needed almost every last second, but found Eyler late to record his 100th career point.
