DEMOREST, Ga. - The Birmingham-Southern men's lacrosse team won their fourth consecutive game to start the season with a dominant display at Piedmont on Friday.

How it happened
Senior Raymond Fracchia came out firing with two goals inside the opening three minutes of the game to put the Panthers up two early. A little over two minutes later, Patton Hunter put in a third for BSC to put the visitors up 3-0 with 9:43 remaining in the opening quarter. Neither team scored for the next six minutes until Piedmont finally got on the board with 3:47 to go in the period. Less than two minutes later, 'Southern restored their three-goal cushion with an Austin Johnson finish to go up 4-1 at the conclusion of the opening 15 minutes. 

The Lions scored the opening goal of the second period, but the Panthers continued to play excellent lacrosse. Goals from Cameron Herd, Raymond Fracchia, and Kyle Winter led BSC on a 3-0 run to close out the half. The BSC defense was a force in the first half with 10 caused turnovers and only two goals allowed in the first 30 minutes.

With a 7-2 lead heading into the second half, the Panthers did not let up. They dominated all over the field and kept pestering the Piedmont net out of the break. Two goals a piece from Raymond Fracchia and Cameron Herd in addition to Josh Tamarkin's first of the night highlighted BSC's five unanswered goals in the third. The defense continued to force turnovers with six in the quarter.

The Panthers were cruising up 12-2 heading into the final 15 minutes in Demorest. Josh Tamarkin then got his second goal of the night only 13 seconds into the period after a Michael Fox faceoff win. The Lions scored the next goal, but Cameron Herd then put in his 18th goal in only four games to take a 14-3 lead. The Lions scored two late goals, but BSC finished the job with a commanding 14-5 win on the night.

Game notes

• Raymond Fracchia scored a season-high five goals
• Nathan Pepe recorded a season-high 18 saves for his third consecutive game of at least 15 saves
• Cameron Herd finished with five points (four goals and one assist)

Records
Birmingham-Southern 4-0, Piedmont 4-1

Up Next
BSC will take on in-state rival Huntingdon on Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 6:00 p.m. in Montgomery.