GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The weather conditions seemed ripe for a quality outing for the Guilford men's lacrosse team, after playing through torrid conditions for their past few home outings. On a sunny Wednesday evening, the offense was well and alive, as the Quakers comfortably beat the William Peace Pacers, 12-4.
GC wins their second straight, and go back over the .500 mark at 4-3, while WPU falls to 1-4.
Darius Safavi-Abbassi (Culver City, Calif.) got the job done in goal, only conceding two goals with a save percentage of .714. Pacer netminder Dylan Sullivan could not stop the barrage by Quaker attackers, giving up 10 goals while only making six saves.
On faceoff, Guilford took a slightly different approach. Jax Atkins (Mechanicsville, Va.) was his usual self, winning 7-11 in the circle. Freshman Eli Chambers (Salem, Va.) got his first taste of faceoff action, eventually winning the role as the game script flipped. He won six out of a possible seven in the circle.
Ground balls were aplenty, distributed amongst 13 different Quakers. Wyatt Dwyer (Seattle, Wash.) and Chambers led the team with three each. Gavin Brown (Charleston, S.C.) brought his goal tally to 15 on the season, with an excellent seven-point effort in the contest. Brown led Guilford in both goals with four, and in assists with three.
For the visiting Pacers, Jamar Bell had two goals.
The Quakers immediately swarmed WPU to start, Brown got the game started with a solo effort not one minute in for the early lead. The opposing defense was in array, as Dirk Meinhart (Garfield, Ky.) and Gabe Alvarez (Cary, N.C.) each got on the board in quick succession to put Guilford up a hat-trick. Andrew Burch (Cary, N.C.) contributed not long after; in just over four minutes of action, the Quakers were already up by four. Keeping the foot on the gas, Seth Woods got on the board with a score, as Brown tallied his second assist of the quarter. Meinhart got his double not too long after, as the onslaught continued for Guilford. Succeeding scored from Brown and Burch gave GC the 8-0 lead, more than comfortable at this stage.
William Peace settled in as the second period progressed, but sloppy play from Guilford cost them, eventually conceding a penalty that led to the Pacers' first score. GC placed offensive pressure back on the visitors, sending off a barrage of shots, Alvarez eventually breaking through for the team's ninth goal of the game, and sending the teams into halftime with Guilford up 9-1.
Brown made it ten for GC, and his second score of the period lifted Guilford to 12 before the fourth quarter approached. The Pacers added on two goals as consolation, but the controlling first period from Guilford proved to be worthwhile, as they cruised to the 12-4 win.
The Quakers have one final tuneup before entering conference play, welcoming Messiah University for a morning matinee on Saturday, March 16. First faceoff is set for 11:00 a.m.
