HARTSVILLE, S.C. – Despite a record-setting performance from
Mitchell Cody, the Embry-Riddle men's lacrosse team closed out its season-opening five-game road trip on Sunday with a 16-15 loss at Coker. The Eagles' season record now stands at 1-4, while the Cobras moved to 5-1 with the win.
Cody finished the day with two goals and six assists to go along with a pair of ground balls. His six assists and eight points both established new program single-game records.
Coleman Jacobs also tied the program's single-game goals record with five.
Marcus Needham added two goals and an assist, while
Jacob Schripsema tallied two goals and
Michael Forte chipped in with a goal and an assist.
Mark Urso went 17-of-34 in faceoffs with a game-high 10 ground balls, and
Charlie Wilson made 10 saves on 26 shots.
The Eagles got on the board first thanks to a Jacobs goal less than two minutes into the contest. After Coker tied it,
Joe Anderson notched his second goal of the season to make it 2-1 at the 9:43 mark of the first. Just over two minutes later the Cobras knotted things up at two, before the Blue and Gold scored back-to-back goals from Jacobs and Needham to pull ahead, 4-2 with 3:52 left in the quarter. Coker got one back just over a minute later, but the Eagles regained a two-goal lead when
Connor Bullock netted his third goal of the season with 1:17 on the clock. The Eagles carried that 5-3 lead through the end of the first quarter, but the Cobras turned things around in the second quarter, outscoring ERAU 8-0 to take an 11-5 lead at the half.
ERAU got its offense going again in the third as Jacobs and Cody netted the first two goals of the quarter to cut the deficit to 11-7 after just 2:13 of the period. After Coker got a goal back, Schripsema answered with back-to-back goals of his own to make it 12-9. The Cobras scored with just over five minutes left but the Blue and Gold got tallies from Jacobs and
Gage Poindexter in the final minutes to get to within two at the end of the quarter, trailing 13-11.
Embry-Riddle kept the momentum going in the fourth as
Michael Forte cut the lead in half with his second goal of the season just eight seconds into the quarter. Cody earned the assist on that goal, his sixth assist of the game, which established a new program single-game record. Less than a minute later, Cody tied the game at 13 with his second goal of the contest, giving him eight points for the game, which set another program single-game record. Coker regained the lead 44 seconds later, but Needham tied it at 14 with his second goal of the game two minutes later. At the 8:41 mark the Cobras went ahead, 15-14, but Jacobs notched his fifth goal of the game with 4:15 to go to knot the game at 15. Once again Coker responded, this time 56 seconds later, to take another one-goal lead, 16-15.
The Eagles will open the home portion of the 2020 schedule next Sunday, March 1, when they host North Greenville at 1 p.m.
