April 5, 2011
By: Drew Zimbro, Sports Information

Box Score

Laurinburg, N.C. – The Knights (7-8, 1-3) Men’s Lacrosse team took to the field to take on the 10 th best team in the nation, Queens University Royals (7-3, 3-2). This would prove to be the biggest test St. Andrews has faced thus far, but the Knights were pumped up and ready for the challenge.

The first quarter proved to be a defensive battle as neither teams gave an inch until the 4:13 mark when Queens found the back of the net. The Knights answered right back two minutes later when Senior Steve Tramonte (Coral Springs, FL) bulled his way thru the Royals defense to knot the game up at a 1-1 tie. Queens went on to score three goals in less than a minute to take the lead, only leaving forty two seconds left in the quarter. The Knights did not waiver though as Cameron Walsh (Farmingville, NY) then made an incredibly athletic move to score with only two seconds left and eventually ending the quarter with St. Andrews trailing 4-2. The second quarter is when things really started to heat up, as Queens kept trying to take the wind out of the Knights sails, but the resilient Knights club stood strong and continued to go toe to toe with the Royals. By halftime Queens found themselves on top by the score of 8-6, while the Knights remained fierce and confident.

The second half began with the Royals scoring quickly trying to establish early dominance, but the Knights were not buying what they were selling. St. Andrews then caught fire and finished the quarter out with four unanswered goals with Daniel Shields (Mercer Island, WA) and Michael Thomas (Churchill, MD) scoring twice giving the Knights their first lead of the game with a score of 10-9. St. Andrews continued their run at the start of the fourth as they scored twice early making it now six unanswered and seen their lead blossom to 12-9. Queens being the talented team they are then squad rallied back and started to catch fire themselves. The Royals managed to control the tempo by playing solid defense that then led to them scoring four straight goals in 1:18 span to take the lead 13-12 with 8:12 left in the contest. Those last minutes were grueling for both teams while both found themselves on the receiving end of big hits and missed shots. The Knights then took a timeout and looked puzzled as they were looking for an answer, but came out rejuvenated and ready to take down Goliath, and with 3:36 seconds left Steve Tramonte showed how it pays to be a crafty veteran, as he again willed himself thru the Royal defense to find the back of the net tying the game up at 13-13. Solid defense by both teams continued with neither scoring, nor eventually forcing the game into overtime.

In overtime each team found themselves on the brink of a win but just could not seem to close one another out, and after going four minutes with no scores, a second overtime was definite. As the two teams took the field for the next overtime, it was obvious they were both running on heart and will, with neither team wanting to lose. The Royals, stunned that they could not put the Knights away then stopped play and demanded a stick check against St. Andrews. Play stopped and the stick was checked as both teams took the time to huddle. The Knights were not charged with a penalty, but were shot with a dose of adrenaline as they came out of the huddle determined. Instantly when play resumed Tramonte attacked the net with no fear and took a shot which ricocheted of the bar and landed in Freshman Alex Tindall’s (Edmonds, WA) stick, where he then fired a shot of his own with the end result being a Knights win with a final score of 14-13. The Knights were then accompanied with cheers and celebration from the fans as they seemed to have pulled of the unthinkable.

Leading the way for St. Andrews was Daniel Shields with four goals. The Knights also received contributions from Steven Tramonte and Michael Thomas who both had three goals, Cameron Walsh with two goals, and Alex Tindall and Chris Michela (Oak Hill, VA) with one goal each while Goal Keeper Kyle Davitt (Shoreview, MN) racked up eleven saves earning another win. Brandon Ree led the Knights with six caused turnovers. The Knights take the field next on Saturday when the travel to Banner Elk, N.C. to take on Lees McRae College game starting at 2 p.m.

 

-GO KNIGHTS-