Lexington, Ky. – The Transylvania men's lacrosse team defeated the Centre College Colonels 12-10 at Pat Deacon Stadium on a warm and windy Wednesday evening, with timely scoring and lockdown defense when it mattered most.

Just over one minute into the rivalry game, Centre broke open the scoring but the Pioneers responded shortly after, as Kaden Bates wired a low shot into the bottom right corner for his first of the season. From there, the Colonels built up the early lead with goals at the 9:47 and 8:13 mark.

Centre put another on the board to go ahead 4-1, but just 36 seconds later Will Warner put one home to cut the deficit to 2. The Pioneers knocked on the door in the closing minutes of the quarter but were held off the board, making it 4-2 Centre with one quarter down.

In need of a response, AJ Teague capitalized on a Centre turnover and went coast to coast, bouncing one up top shelf, and Andrew Hamill fired one to the back of the net to tie the game in the blink of an eye. Warner then tucked another in to give the Pioneers the lead.

The Warner takeover continued as he scored again at the 8:50 mark on a feed from Dalton Hubbs, giving the junior a first half hat trick. Three minutes later, Hamill snapped a ferocious shot for another goal, giving the Pioneers a 7-4 lead. The 5-0 Transy run in the quarter finally ended at 4:11 as Centre scored to make it a two-goal game, but soon after Hubbs struck on his first of the night. The back and forth scoring kept going as the Colonels scored on their next possession, and nearly scored again late in the half, but Connor Haney came up with a huge save and the score remained 8-6 as the horn sounded on the first 30 minutes.

Hubbs tacked on another goal to start the second half, at the 11:32 mark, and the Colonels pushed to get back into the game but Haney continued to stand tall in net. With three minutes left in the third, Bryce Lowe got onto the board with a goal on a smooth assist from Aquino, putting the Pioneers in control ahead 10-6. The score stood at the end of the quarter, as Transy held Centre off the board entirely in the period.

In the fourth, the Pioneers contained the Colonel attack all the way until the 3:48 mark when they found a goal, making it 10-7 late in the contest. Just over a minute later, Hubbs buried a hat trick goal to give Transy a commanding 11-7 lead. Centre showed life with two quick goals, but with 57 seconds left Hubbs dropped one into the empty net marking his fourth of the night. The Colonels continued to push but ran out of time as Transylvania held strong to take the win, 12-10.

Goalie Connor Haney takes the win after another impressive performance in goal, where he made 11 saves. Warner and Hubbs finish with hat tricks, Warner with 3 goals and 1 assist, and Hubbs with a six-point night on 4 goals, 2 helpers.

The Pioneers return to action on Saturday, April 2, with a conference matchup as they host Albion College at Pat Deacon Stadium with a 1:00 PM scheduled start.

For more information on Transylvania men's lacrosse, follow @Transy_Lax on Twitter.