Men's Lacrosse Drops Close Game Against No. 8 Madonna

ATHENS, Tenn.- The men's lacrosse team played their second consecutive game at the TWU Athletic Complex on Tuesday. The team hosted a second team from Michigan, this time the No. 8 ranked Madonna University Crusaders.

The first goal of the game went to the Crusaders. Jackson Lollis responded with a goal to put the game in a 1-1 tie. Madonna took the momentum though, scoring three straight goals to take a 4-1 lead. With under two minutes remaining in the quarter, Robert Holekamp scored twice, the first goal with 1:40 remaining and the second with 21 seconds remaining, to cut the lead to one goal with the scoreboard reading 4-3. 

The second quarter saw the hole grow bigger for the Bulldogs. A goal occurred in the opening minute of the quarter, going towards the side of the Crusaders. The next goal did not go on the scoreboard for close to ten minutes. It came off the stick of Holekamp to keep TWU within one goal of the lead with 4:42 remaining until halftime. Madonna went on to score the next three goals though, sending the Bulldogs to halftime trailing 8-4. 

The opponents began the third quarter with two goals, moving ahead 10-4. Tennessee Wesleyan turned some of the momentum to their side over the next few minutes by getting two of the goals back. Carson Bowling scored the first of the two goals while Wes Christian scored the second one to bring the Bulldogs back within four goals of the lead. The third quarter ended with the teams exchanging goals with Holekamp scoring for TWU. 

Trailing 12-7 to begin the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs cut the lead to three with Holekamp and Lollis goals. Madonna scored a goal to try to curtail the comeback attempt, but Holekamp scored two more goals to keep a comeback a possibility, making the score 13-11. The comeback attempt would fall short for Tennessee Wesleyan as each team scored one more goal to make the final score 14-12. Lollis scored the final goal for the Bulldogs.

Holekamp tied his career-high with seven goals in the game while Lollis finished with three goals in the game. Jack Shaw had 10 saves in the net.

TWU (2-5) hosts Point University on Saturday for an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) game on Saturday. The game is set to begin at 2:00 p.m.