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BANNER ELK – For the first time since the 2018 season, the Chowan men’s lacrosse team earned a berth in the Conference Carolinas Men’s Championship Tournament after defeating Lees-McRae, 21-14, here Saturday afternoon.

Jaxon Martin and Eric George collected nine points, posting six goals and three assists each. Erik Dozzi collected seven points with two goals and five assists.

Martin and Dozzi are closing in on single-season records as Martin is three goals short of the record (58) and Dozzi is one assist short (32).

Jackson Downs added four goals, while Noah Jalal, Jaylen Pierre, and Nathan Townsend added one goal each. Jalal tallied three assists.

Chowan jumped out in front as Jaylen Pierre scored an unassisted goal to open the scoring for the Hawks. Downs scored before Martin and Dozzi found George for a pair of goals to lead 4-0.

Lees-McRae tallied two goals before the Hawks responded with a pair of goals. Downs scored an unassisted tally before Jalal found Martin for the goal to lead 6-2.

The Bobcats scored in the final minute of the frame to trail 6-3.

George put the Hawks on the board in the second frame before LMC closed the gap to 7-5. Martin scored off an assist by Dozzi and Townsend found the back of the net for his first goal of the season to lead 9-5 at the half.

Martin and George teamed up for a goal and an assist each to offset the Bobcat goals to open the third period. DOzzi found the back of the net twice to push the lead to 13-8.

Jalal and George found the back of the net before the end of the quarter to lead 15-8.

Chowan scored four straight goals to open the final frame as Downs scored twice with George and Martin scoring once to lead 19-8.

Following a LMC goal, Martin scored off the assist by Jalal to lead 20-9.

The momentum shifted for the Bobcats late in the frame as LMC scored three goals in a matter of 52 seconds to close the gap to 20-12.

Martin ended the run with a man-up goal before LMC scored two goals late to finish off the contest.

Chowan (6-7 overall) earned the fifth seed in the Conference Carolinas Men’s Lacrosse Championship. The Hawks will return to Wilson to take on the fourth-seeded Barton in a rematch. The Hawks fell to Barton 19-17 last weekend.