Bulldogs defeat Hickory, snap two-game losing streak

Apr. 30—The Meadville lacrosse team defeated the Hickory Hornets in a Region 1 matchup on Monday night at Bender Field.

Meadville played strong on defense all night, and capitalized on offense when it needed to. The Bulldogs would ride that defense to win 8-3.

During the first quarter, the Bulldogs midfielders stayed aggressive on defense, forcing turnovers and penalties. The turnovers led to goals, with Meadville building a 5-1 lead.

Hickory responded in the fourth quarter, getting two goals to make the score 5-3. Late penalties from Hickory allowed Meadville to score three more goals before the game ended.

Gino Giliberto, Logan Shaw, Benjamin Hilson and Cody Schwab tallied the Meadville goals. Giliberto led the team with a hat trick, with Shaw right behind him, scoring two. Hilson scored twice as well. Schwab scored the final goal for Meadville in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter.

On defense, Matthew Kaste led the team in ground balls with eight. Schwab and Robert Grasinger tallied five ground balls each. Hilson totaled four ground balls.

"Our defense stepped up," said Meadville head coach Charlie Anderson. "Had some glitches with the offense and middies. We're going to work on that tomorrow and get tuned for McDowell."

Meadville's strong defense was backed up by junior goalie Zachery Travis. Travis made a total of 16 saves, with eight of them coming in the last quarter.

"Our goalie (Travis) did an amazing job," said Anderson.

Meadville started the game stronger than how they finished. A few turnovers near the end of the game allowed Hickory to find more chances in the offensive zone. However, the Bulldogs stayed tough on defense consistently and made it difficult for Hickory to get their offense moving to the middle of the zone.

"We needed to fine-tune a couple of things," said Anderson. "We should've been a lot further ahead in that game than we were. We have to pursue our ground balls harder and keep our possession going longer."

This is Meadville's third win of the season and its second regional win. The Bulldogs hold a 3-4 overall record, and a 2-2 divisional record. They are scheduled to travel to McDowell on Wednesday for another regional matchup at 6 p.m.

Trevor Teubner can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at trevor@meadvilletribune.com.