BRIDGEWATER, Va. -- The Bridgewater College men's lacrosse team was defeated by Guilford, 14-9, at Bridgewater Stadium in ODAC action on Saturday afternoon.

The Eagles dedicated the game to Morgan's Message, which is an organization founded in honor of former Duke University women's lacrosse player Morgan Rodgers who lost her battled with mental health issues and continues to help fight the stigma associated with mental health issues with student-athletes. For more information on the cause, visit morgansmessage.org. 

THE BASICS
Finals Score: Guilford 14, Bridgewater 9
Records: Bridgewater 3-8, 1-3 ODAC; Guilford 6-5, 3-1 ODAC

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Guilford opened the game with three-consecutive goals from Seth Woods, Gavin Brown and Bashwyn Fitch to force an early timeout from the Eagles with 4:24 left to go in the opening quarter. Coming out of the stoppage, Trevor McClelland scored to get BC on the board and also hit the 100 point mark for his career. Andrew Burch followed with a goal with just a minute left in the opening period to give the visitors a 4-1 edge after the first 15 minutes.
• Grant Nyland nudged the Eagles back into the game with a score less than 90 seconds into the second, but Gabe Alvarez scored in an extra-man opportunity to get the lead back to three goals at 5-2 with 13:03 left in the half. Alvarez connected with Burch for a second straight goal as the Quakers went ahead 6-2. Hayden Gourley found the back of the cage off a pass from Luke Wendler to make it 6-3 with 11 minutes to go in the frame. Six minutes eclipsed before Riley Stewart scored off a feed from Gourley to get BC back within two goals at 6-4 with under five minutes left in the first half, but Burch was able to find the back of the cage again less than a minute later to give Guilford a 7-4 lead at the break.
• Following halftime, McClelland got his second of the game with an assist to Gourley and Stewart scored again to edge the Eagles back into it and make it a one-goal game at 7-6 with 8:01 on the clock. Jax Atkins won the faceoff following the goal and sprinted the length of the field to score for himself to bump the lead back up to 8-6 for the visitors. Ryan Linn scored unassisted just 45 seconds later and Stewart completed a hat trick with 3:19 left in the third as the Eagles tied it up at 8-8. The scoreline held as the game went into the last period of regulation deadlocked at 8-8.
• Breaking the Eagles' momentum, the Quakers scored three-straight to start the fourth quarter to take an 11-8 lead with 9:22 left to play. McClelland got one back to get the Eagles within two at 11-9, but Guilford put the game away with three straight scores to end the game at 14-9.

GAME STATS

• McClelland and Stewart each finished with a hat trick, while McClelland picked up three ground balls and Stewart had two of his own.
• Gourley, Linn and Nyland also scored in a losing effort.
• Gourley led the team with two assists, while Wendler had one.
• Gabriel Alexander went 19-fo-25 in faceoffs and picked up 16 ground balls. 
• Drew Huber, Ryan Addison and Owen Cogan all scooped up two ground balls with Addison eclipsing the 100 ground ball mark for his career.
• McClelland, Addison, Grant Heidebrecht and CJ McKnight all caused two turnovers with Cogan, Wendler and Brennan McKeown all causing one.
• Gabe Wallman started in the cage and made one save in the first half with Zach Guthrie-Pimpinella taking over for the final 30 minutes and stopping four shots. 
• Bridgewater out shot Guilford 39-32 and had a 36-29 edge in ground balls.

UP NEXT
Bridgewater hits the road after a five-game homestand to take on Roanoke on Wednesday, April 3, at 4 pm.