Danville, Ky. – The Transylvania men's lacrosse team was outjousted by the No. 16 Colorado College Tigers, 20-12 in the opening round of the 2021 NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championships at Farris Stadium on the campus of Centre College on Saturday afternoon.
A fast start by the Pioneers was quelled by the Tigers in the second quarter as the Tigers overtook the Pioneers to clinch the first-round tournament victory over the Pioneers and move to 12-3 on the season.
The greatest season in Transylvania men's lacrosse history by winning percentage witnessed several new NCAA tournament highs as the Pioneers signed off with a 13-3 overall record.
Trenton Sneed capped off an extraordinary career with the first hat-trick for the Pioneers in an NCAA Tournament match on Saturday, totaling three goals and two assists for a team-high five points.
Sneed's prolific offense was matched by freshman Andrew Hamill, who also tallied a hat-trick and added an assist in his NCAA Tournament debut. Seiver Utsey paced the Pioneers with a hat-trick of his own and added a caused turnover in the tournament contest.
Seeking their first NCAA Tournament win in four attempts, the Pioneers signaled their arrival with the first goal of the afternoon as Sneed found paydirt in transition at the 10:44 mark of the first quarter. The Tigers answered with their first goal on the ensuing face-off before both teams settled into a defensive stalemate.
The Tigers sparked their offense with two goals inside a minute and a half late in the first quarter to go ahead, 3-1. Will Warner reclaimed the momentum for the Pioneers by scoring the second goal of the match for Transy with 1:53 to go in the quarter, slicing the deficit to 3-2.
Colorado College scored first to open up the second quarter but Utsey scored his first goal of the day as he spun away from a defender, helping Transylvania close within a goal at 4-3. Hamill notched his first career NCAA Tournament goal on an assist from Sneed to tie up the action at 4-all with 9:31 left in the half.
The Tigers scored on the next possession but Hamill and Sneed forged another connection as the freshman fed the senior for his second goal of the game, knotting the match at 5-5 with 6:54 to go in the half.
Colorado College seized momentum, winning a series of face-offs and ground balls over the next two minutes to open up an 8-5 advantage. T.J. Toivonen scored one of his two goals on the afternoon as he flew down the field to stem the tide at 8-6 with 4:31 left in the half, but the Tigers struck twice more before halftime to carry a 10-6 lead to the break.
Toivonen put away a mesmerizing transition goal to begin the second half as the Pioneers pulled to within three at 10-7. But the Tigers reeled off four unanswered goals to build a 14-7 advantage to seize control for good.
Hamill, Sneed, and Utsey either scored or assisted on the final five goals of the day as Transylvania refused to quit, but the Tigers scored four consecutive goals early in the fourth quarter to stay firmly ahead in the first round match.
The NCAA Tournament marked the final career games for Sneed and Toivonen amongst several other seniors, who established a tradition of excellence for the Transylvania men's lacrosse program. Toivonen registered a caused turnover in his final match to finish with 182 career caused turnovers, which stands sixth all-time in NCAA Division III men's lacrosse history. Sneed completed his career as the first Pioneer ever to tally over 200 points in his career. Transylvania's 12 goals on Saturday were the most scored by the Pioneers in an NCAA Tournament game.
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