GREENSBORO, N.C. – Kenneth Crowley (Charlotte, N.C.) near single-handedly willed the Guilford College men's lacrosse team (1-4, 0-1 ODAC) to a victory, driving in and netting the game-tying goal in the closing seconds before walking it off in overtime, lifting his squad to a 10-9 victory over Warren Wilson College (0-5, 0-0 C2C) for Head Coach Dylan Neisler's first with GC at Appenzeller Field at the Armfield Athletic Center on Sunday afternoon.

Conventional wisdom would conclude the Quakers would not have needed the extra frame, outshooting the Owls 66-35, winning 17-of-23 in the faceoff circle, and scooping 48 groundballs to WWC's 24. But some wild shot selection, leading to just 29 of 66 shots being on frame, yielded just a 29-21 edge in looks on frame while the turnover battle was also close, 35-32.

It was quality work in frame from Darius Safavi-Abbassi (Culver City, Calif.) as the senior went the distance to pick up his first win of the season and improve to 1-4 after making 12 saves against nine goals allowed. It was a rare day when the Californian was overshadowed, however, as Anthony Varela stood tall with 19 stops against 10 goals allowed for the guests, albeit in the losing effort, falling to 0-5.

Crowley's crunch-time tallies headlined a career outing for the Queen City native, collecting a career-best five points on four goals and an assist. Junior running mate Jason Campbell (Fairfax, Va.) racked up a hat trick while Nick Ianonne (Wellington, Fla.) dominated the circle, winning 14-of-17, scooping a game-high 13 groundballs, and scoring twice to go with two assists. Hudson Bosland (Otisville, N.Y.) led the defense with four caused turnovers.

Jayshawn Bruce was brilliant for Warren Wilson, contributing on over half of his team's goals with three tallies and two setups plus a team-high seven groundballs in the contest. Ethan Damm scored a trio as well while Jae Heath posted a goal, a helper, and a 5-for-12 showing on faceoffs.

The guests opened the scoring, taking advantage of a man-advantage as Bruce scored 120 seconds into the game before picking up his second exactly three minutes later, but the Guilford defense shut things down for much of the rest of the half. Iannone netted the Quakers breakthrough tally, circling the crease before ripping one high far-side for GC's initial tally.

The second frame was all Guilford. Warren Wilson bookended the frame with tallies from RJ Daly and Damm off a Heath feed, but in-between, it was six-unanswered by the hosts. Working out from behind the net, Campbell opened the rally with a high short-side goal before Iannone won the faceoff, fed Crowley, and he ripped one low from distance to level the score. The tandem teamed up again for the go-ahead tally then Camo Campbell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) got in on the fun, driving and bouncing one home before Jason Campbell capped the rally, causing a turnover and taking care of the rest himself as GC mounted a 7-4 halftime lead.

The adversaries traded solo tallies in the third, with Crowley setting up Campbell at the 12:01 mark then Luis Damian finishing from a Bruce feed at 1:34 before a fourth quarter comeback by the Owls. It started innocent enough with a Bruce goal at 9:31 but then Heath and Damm scored within a minute of each-other to tie it with 3:30 to play. Then with 65 seconds remaining Damm cashed in again, as suddenly WWC has control and after a quick turnover by the Quakers, it appeared they would hold on to the comeback. But instead, some fortune, as following a clear, Heath retreated back across midfield for a turnover. Crowley made it pay as straight out of the resumption of play, he wove straight through the heart of the defense and went bottom-right for the equalizer.

That set the stage for overtime, as after a faceoff win and a miss on the first look, GC took a time out. Crowley commenced play, working from deep in the left corner, behind the net to the right wing, shook a defender and finding twine in the bottom-right again, initiating celebration just 42 seconds into the extra time after a thrilling 10-9 victory.

It is league play the rest of the way for GC, as they next venture to Washington & Lee in 10 days on March 25^th. First faceoff is set for 6:00 PM.

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