McNeany Breaks Single-Season Ground Balls Record in Tournament Quarterfinal Loss at Tusculum

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - Coker University junior Jason McNeany broke his own single-season ground ball record in Coker's 10-9 South Atlantic Conference tournament quarterfinal loss at Tusculum on Tuesday (Apr. 20).

Tusculum scored the first two goals of the game over the first three minutes of the game, before Coker responded with a three-goal run to take a 3-2 lead with six minutes to play. Tre Childers scored from Cal Gibson just past the five-minute mark, before Henry Haskett scored unassisted just over a minute later. Childers would score again off an assist from Matt Murphy with six minutes to play in the quarter, before Tusculum would net the final two markers of the quarter to take a 4-3 lead to the second.

Coker controlled the second quarter from start to finish, scoring four goals to take a 7-3 lead to the half. Joe Venazio scored from Andrew Dappen a minute and a half into the quarter, before Haskett scored from Venazio four minutes in. Dominic Madlang got in on the scoring with an unassisted marker six minutes into the quarter, before Murphy would score from Dappen with just under five minutes to play in the quarter.

Tusculum scored the first two goals of the third quarter in the first four minutes, before Dappen would score from Venazio with three minutes to play in the quarter. Tusculum would respond with a goal 1:05 later, before Murphy scored unassisted with five seconds left in the quarter to put the Cobras back up by two. Tusculum would win the ensuing faceoff and beat the horn for a goal to get back within one at the buzzer at 9-8.

Tusculum scored the only two goals of the fourth quarter to secure the victory on home turf.

Murphy, Childers and Haskett each scored twice, while Madlang, Venazio and Dappen each scored once in the game. Venazio and Dappen each helped on two goals apiece, while Murphy and Gibson each had one assist in the game. McNeany led the Cobras with a team-high seven ground balls to break the single-season record that he set in 2019 (93). McNeany also becomes the first player in program history to record 100 ground balls in a single season. James Brugger caused two turnovers in the game, while six others each forced one turnover in the game. Chris Hagy made 12 saves between the pipes in the game.

This concludes the 2021 men's lacrosse season.