GREENSBORO, N.C.- The eighth-seeded Guilford men's lacrosse team (5-12, 3-7 ODAC) are set to travel up north, as they face a familiar foe they saw not even a month ago, drawing fifth-seeded Randolph-Macon College (10-7, 6-4 ODAC) in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournament First Round matchup on Sunday afternoon at Day Field.
After a season filled with ups and downs, the Quakers have clinched a position in the tournament and look for their first postseason victory in program history. The two teams have a long history of matchups dating back to the 1980 season. Overall, Randolph-macon holds the advantage with an 31-13 record against Guilford. The Quakers last victory against the Yellow Jackets was back in 2016 by a score of 9-7. The good guys look to snap their nine-game losing streak against R-MC.
Guilford's front line has been nearly unstoppable especially with newcomer
Davis Palombo (Greensboro, N.C). The Belmont Abbey transfer has taken the ODAC by storm, recording 36 goals and 15 assists, notching an astounding 51 points and a 63% shot-on-goal accuracy, making him the primary option on the offensive end. Palombo has also notched eight hat-tricks this season, with six of those coming in the last six games of the season.
Gavin Brown (Charleston, S.C.) has been the main playmaker, distributing 20 assists while scoring 23 himself, with a shooting percentage of 63%.
Bashwyn Fitch (Charleston, S.C.) rounds out the attacking trio for Guilford, contributing 24 goals and four assists. As a unit, these three Quakers have combined for 83 goals and 39 assists, accounting for most of the team's scoring.
The seasoned backline of the Quakers proved that time is just a figment of our imagination.
Cam Walters (Greensboro, N.C.),
Drew Sizemore (Greensboro, N.C.), and
Wyatt Dwyer (Seattle, Wash) have shown their experience with savvy defensive plays, notching 100 caused turnovers as a unit, accompanied by 156 ground ball pickups.
Darius Safavi-Abbassi (Culver CIty, Calif) will be the last man in defense for the Quakers, starting all 17 games for the good guys, bringing in a record of five wins to 11 loses. In 757 minutes of gameplay, the junior notched a save percentage of .512, facing a total of 586 shots, saving 176, and conceding 168. It's also noteworthy that his play has been superb of late, grabbing ODAC Defensive Player of the Week recognition just two weeks ago.
Regular Season Statistics:
| Stats |
No. 8 Guilford |
No. 5 Randolph-Macon |
| Record (Overall) |
5-11 |
10-6 |
| Record (ODAC) |
3-6 |
6-3 |
| Goals |
163 |
218 |
| Assists |
72 |
135 |
| Man-up/Man-down Goals |
12/4 |
23/1 |
| Ground balls |
454 |
568 |
| Caused Turnovers |
187 |
174 |
| Faceoffs: W-L |
131-298 |
256-145 |
Individual Player Statistics:
Projected Starters
Guilford
DEF- #2 Wyatt Dwyer (Seattle, Wash): (2 AST, 39 CT, 43 GB)
MID- #4 Bashwyn Fitch (Charleston, S.C.): (23 G, 4 A, 20 GB)
MID- #7 Miles Glass (Greensboro, N.C.): (3 G, 3 A, 23 GB, 9 CT)
ATT- #9 Jacob Mills (Culpeper, Va.): (15 G, 4 A, 17 GB, 3 CT)
ATT- #20 Davis Palombo (Greensboro, N.C.): (36 G, 15 A, 15 GB, 9 CT)
MID- #22 Ezekiel Gravley (Summerfield, N.C.): (3 A, 40 GB, 16 CT)
DEF- #30 Cam Walters (Greensboro, N.C.): (5 G, 1 A, 41 GB, 15 CT)
DEF- #33 Drew Sizemore (Greensboro, N.C.): (4 G, 1 A, 68 GB, 42 CT)
ATT- #44 Gavin Brown (Charleston, S.C.): (23 G, 20 A, 18 GB, 8 CT)
Randolph-Macon
DEF- #4 Riley Rayne: (20 GB, 8 CT)
ATT- # 12 Austin Payne: (20 G, 7 A, 13 GB, 2 CT)
MID- #17 Brodie Kent: (1 G, 3 A, 63 GB, 25 CT)
MID- #18 Cooper Hauser: (1 G, 2 A, 33 GB, 20 CT)
MID- #19 Logan Sinsebox: (29 G, 14 A, 32 GB, 6 CT)
MID- #20 Grant Sobel: (24 G, 10 A, 15 GB, 1 CT)
DEF- #23 Mike Allen: (7 G, 6 A, 54 GB, 26 CT)
MID- #30 Will Robertson: (5 G, 1 A, 101 GB)
MID- #33 Avery Tankersley: (33 G, 30 A, 21 GB, 3 CT)
In Goal
Darius Safavi-Abbassi (Culver CIty, Calif): (757 MIN, 168 GA, 176 SV, 13.31 GAA, .512 SV%)
VS.
Jack Twomey: (819 MIN, 121 GA, 142 SV, 8.86 GAA, .540 SV%)
The playoffs are in full force ladies and gentlemen and as we all know, everyone returns to a clean slate, 0-0. The Quakers will look to secure their first postseason victory in program history, facing a familiar face in Randolph-Macon. Tickets will not be sold for the contest. First face off is set for 1:00 PM.
#GoQuakes
