VIRGINIA BEACH, VA - The matchup between the Guilford College men's lacrosse team (2-10, 0-5 ODAC) and Virginia Wesleyan University (5-6, 2-2 ODAC) went down to the wire, but ultimately the Quakers fell to the Marlins 16-11 at Birdsong Field on Saturday afternoon. Davis Palombo (Greensboro, N.C.) spearheaded GC but could not land in the win column as a whole.

As a unit, GC had 19 points on 11 goals and eight assists, amounting 46 shots with 29 on frame. The Quakers also racked up 46 shots in comparison to the Marlins' 45. VWU were leaders in many categories such as ground balls (32-27) and faceoffs (20-10). Virginia Wesleyan had the upper hand when it came to saves, having 18 compared Guilford's 12.

In the net for the Quakers was Darius Safavi-Abbassi (Culver City, Calif.) who played every single minute making 12 saves, against 16 goals, while facing 45 total shots. The Culver City native was tagged with the loss and now stands at a save percentage of .465 and 2-7 on the season. Virginia Wesleyan saw Zach Tucker as their keeper who was awarded the win, making his record 5-6. Tucker finished with 18 saves against 11 goals while up against 46 shots, making his save percentage .558.

Palombo led the Quakers with another standout performance, tallying a team-best three goals. It marked his first multi-goal game since facing Lake Forest on March 14. Jacob Mills (Culpepper, Va.) was the Quaker up next that had multiple goals with two followed by Gavin Brown (Charleston, S.C.), continuing to show his prowess with two goals of his own. Bashwyn Fitch (Charleston, S.C.) and Kenneth Crowley (Charlotte, N.C.) each added one goal while Miles Glass (Greensboro, N.C.) and Aimery Workman (High Point, N.C.) put in their two cents with goals alongside a combined four assists.

The opening quarter kept everyone on their toes, featuring back-and-forth scoring runs from both sides. Virginia Wesleyan struck first with a goal by Patrick Ruffolo assisted by Liam Murphy, but Guilford responded with a 3-0 run behind two goals from Palombo and one from Brown, giving them a 3-1 lead. Sebastien Reynolds quickly answered before Glass and Mills advanced the lead, 5-3. The home team kept pace with a goal from Jeremiah Madriago prior to Fitch's goal about one minute left in the quarter. Virginia Wesleyan then capitalized on a man-up opportunity with a goal from Daniel Auxier, ending the quarter with Guilford narrowly ahead, 6-5.

VWU opened the second with a goal by Murphy, assisted by Jackson Dinger, tying the game at 6-6. GC flipped the script with a 3-0 scoring run, featuring goals from Crowley, Brown (assisted by Palombo), and Palombo himself off an assist from Workman, building a 9-6 lead by the end of the quarter. To add on, Safavi-Abbassi was strong in goal, registering multiple saves, including key stops against Madriago, Seider, and Parker Lucas.

It was a huge momentum shift in favor of Virginia Wesleyan in the third, who erupted for six goals to take control of the game. The Marlins started their scoring run at the 8:20 mark with a goal by Ben Andrews, which kicked off a 4-0 run in under two minutes. Dinger and Andrews struck again. Psaltis continued to impact the offense, assisting multiple teammates to give VWU its first lead since early in the first half. GC briefly steadied the ship with a goal from Workman tying the game at 10-10. Two consecutive penalties on the Quakers led to an extra-man opportunity, leading Ruffolo to score off a dish from Lucas. Psaltis then capped the quarter with a buzzer-beater goal at 0:06, extending the Marlins' lead to 12-10.

For the fourth, the Marlins struck while the iron was hot with two straight goals by Lucas and Seider. Guilford got one back at 9:36, when Mills scored off an assist from Workman, briefly cutting the deficit to 14-11. However, Virginia Wesleyan retaliated with two more goals from Psaltis and Reynolds to seal a 16-11 victory.

Guilford's defensive efforts were led by Drew Sizemore (Greensboro, N.C) with two caused turnovers and five ground balls, Wyatt Dwyer (Seattle, Wash.) with four caused turnovers, and Ezekiel Gravley (Greensboro, N.C.) with four caused turnovers and five ground balls.

The Cougars of Averett University are on the agenda for the Quakers on Wednesday, April 9th in Danville, VA to continue their conference schedule. First face-off is fixed for 7 PM.

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