CHARLOTTE, N.C.-The Limestone College men's lacrosse team defeated Belmont Abbey 7-4 in the semifinals of the Conference Carolinas tournament on Friday evening at Memorial Stadium. The #1-seeded Saints' record climbs to 8-3 overall as the #4 Crusaders slip to 6-7 overall.

With the win, Limestone advances to the conference finals where they will face #2 seed Queens University (8-5, 4-1). The Royals defeated #6 seed Lees McRae College (2-9, 0-5) in the second semifinal game, 18-6.

For Limestone, the defense would be the star of the game, only allowing 2 goals per half and stifling the Belmont Abbey offense. James Tuohy (Levittown, N.Y.) made 18 saves in the net, while Spencer Wims (Waltham, Mass.) shut down Abbey's Michael Brown (36 goals, 25 assists) allowing the senior attacker no points.

The Saints were led by Mike Poerstel (Annapolis, Md.) and Thomas Langan (Potomac, Md.), each netting two goals. Brendan Storrier (Lafayette, N.Y.) tallied one goal and one assist. Brian Zwick (Dublin, Ohio) and Jake Rogalia (Liverpool, N.Y.) also provided a goal each.

Statistically, the game was evenly matched with The Abbey leading in shots, 33-32, and ground balls, 44-39. On face-offs, Sean Bennett (East Moriches, N.Y.) won 4-7, but the Crusaders held a large advantage, winning 10 of 15.

The two teams traded a pair of goals to open the game. The Saints struck first, on a Langan goal at 13:30 and Poerstel striking at 10:20. But the Crusaders answered back with a goal from Jed Gardner and another from Doug Lipka.

The second quarter was scoreless until the final 32 seconds. Langan scored his second of the game to put Limestone back on top 3-2. Storrier added one with just one second left in the half to give Limestone a two-goal edge heading into the break.

The Saints would keep it rolling in the first four minutes of the third stanza to take a 6-2 lead. Dave DiLuigi cut the lead in half for the Abbey with 8:07. The goal wasn't enough to spark a comeback for the 2008 defending Conference Carolinas Tournament Champions. Both teams notched one more in the third in what would be the last goals of the game.

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The Belmont Abbey men's lacrosse team fell to the top-seeded Limestone Saints 7-4 in the semifinals of the Conference Carolinas tournament on Friday evening at Memorial Stadium in Charlotte. Limestone improves to 8-3, while the Abbey ends its season with a 6-6 mark.

Belmont Abbey outshot Limestone 33-32 as Jedd Gardner scored twice, while Dave DiLuigi and Douglas Lipka both scored once. DiLuigi, who also won two faceoffs in three tries, had two assists.

Thomas Langan and Mike Poerstel led the Saints with two goals each, while Brendan Storrier, Jake Rogalia and Brian Zwick all had one each. Storrier and Jason Brammall both had one assist.

Belmont Abbey scooped up 44 ground balls as Brian Watson, Tristan Keas, Matt Spivey and Tony Kikola all led the way with four each. Kikola made nine saves, while counterpart James Tuohy made 18.

2009-04-18