In a game that was tied at halftime, high point u turned control of the small details into a decisive Atlantic 10 result, beating Delaware 12–8 at Delaware Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Delaware’s conference home debut became a test of whether early competitiveness could survive a grinding second half. It did not. High Point’s third-quarter shutdown and dominance in faceoffs and ground balls reshaped the matchup after a 6–6 deadlock, leaving Delaware searching for momentum in A-10 play.
High Point U’s second-half separation: one quarter that decided the day
High Point arrived in Newark, Delaware, for its second Atlantic-10 game of the 2026 season and left with a second straight A-10 win, improving to 3–5 overall and 2–0 in conference. Delaware fell to 1–7 overall and 0–2 in A-10 play.
The scoreboard shows a four-goal margin, but the hinge moment was narrower and more revealing: High Point held Delaware scoreless in the third quarter. That stretch followed a first half in which Delaware had fought back to tie the game at six by halftime, a sign the home side could match the Panthers’ early pace.
Instead, the opening minute of the second half immediately broke the symmetry. Justin Wixted found Carson Robins less than a minute after the restart for a 7–6 lead, and High Point kept leaning into the possessions that followed. The Panthers pushed the edge to 9–6 and carried that advantage into the final quarter, ultimately closing out the 12–8 win with late execution and an open-net finish.
Possession math: faceoffs and ground balls tilt the field
Facts from the stat sheet underline why Delaware’s push to level the game at halftime did not translate into sustained pressure afterward. High Point doubled Delaware in ground balls recovered, 40–20. The Panthers also got a record-setting effort from Luca Accardo, who broke the school record for ground balls recovered in a game with 19, a mark that had stood since 2019.
Accardo’s influence began at the X and spread into every phase of the game. He won 21 of 23 faceoffs, including all 13 he took in the first half. That kind of faceoff control changes the texture of a contest: it creates extra offensive sequences, forces opposing defenses to work longer, and can keep an opponent’s offense from finding rhythm, particularly when the game tightens after halftime.
Those possession edges help explain the third-quarter scoreless stretch for Delaware without requiring any guesswork. When one team repeatedly starts with the ball, the other has fewer chances to answer runs. Delaware did manage to tie the game at six by halftime, but High Point’s ability to win draws and recover ground balls supplied a steadier pipeline of opportunities as the second half unfolded.
In that context, high point u did not simply “pull away”—it steadily narrowed Delaware’s margin for error until the game became a chase rather than a trade.
Key performers and the coaching takeaway
Ryan Hynes led High Point with four goals and one assist. Carson Robins added two goals and two assists, and High Point also got scoring contributions that helped stabilize the offense at key moments. Ian Cann and Hynes each scored early as the Panthers opened with a 2–0 lead. Cann later assisted on Collin Rovere to help make it 4–2 late in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Hynes opened the scoring for the Panthers, and Nicholas Steele scored his first goal of the game off a pass from Cann. Even with Delaware’s ability to claw back to 6–6 at the break, High Point’s top options kept producing in the second half. Hynes completed his hat trick with 14: 21 remaining to make it 9–6, and later added his fourth on an open net in the final minute.
In goal, Zack Overend finished with 10 saves for a 55. 6% save rate. High Point’s coaching staff framed the win as a product of resilience and communication. Head Coach John Crawley said, “I’m really proud of how our team scrapped today. We knew we were going to see a team that scrapped and played very hard and I thought we did the same. Their goalie had an excellent day, and I was happy with how we stayed the course offensively. Defensively I thought we did a better job of communicating and that went a long way. ”
Crawley also highlighted Accardo’s performance, calling him “a warrior, ” after he broke his own record. In a game that tightened at halftime, the quote reflects what the numbers show: defensive organization plus possession dominance can turn a close contest into a controlled finish.
For Delaware, the home debut in conference play ended as a setback in an early season matchup that carried weight for establishing A-10 footing. The fact that the Blue Hens reached halftime tied only heightens the frustration of a third quarter without a goal.
What it means next in the A-10 race
The immediate impact is clear in the standings snapshot included with the game details: High Point is 2–0 in A-10 play after two conference games, while Delaware is 0–2. Momentum is not a permanent condition, but early conference results can shape the pressure around upcoming weekends.
High Point’s schedule moves quickly. Next, the Panthers head back on the road to face Saint Joseph’s in their third Atlantic-10 game of the season on Saturday, March 28 at 3: 00 PM ET in Philadelphia. Delaware’s next step is not detailed here, but the broader task is implied by the scoreline and split halves: converting competitiveness into second-half output.
Games like this can be read as a reminder that lacrosse is often decided by the quiet categories—faceoffs, ground balls, and the ability to manufacture empty possessions for an opponent. On Saturday, those categories belonged to high point u, and the 12–8 final was the result of that underlying control as much as any single scoring burst.
As conference play continues, the question becomes whether Delaware can find a way to prevent another scoreless quarter—and whether high point u can keep turning possession advantages into road wins when the A-10 schedule tightens.
