BELMONT, N.C. – The No. 6 UIndy men's lacrosse team (16-2) earned another overtime victory on Saturday afternoon, avenging an early-season loss to No. 5 Belmont Abbey and move on to the NCAA semifinals with a 14-13 win over the Crusaders.
 
Drew Billig netted his only goal of the contest just 39 seconds into the extra session, capping off the 4-0 run the Greyhounds finished the game. UIndy scored three times with under five minutes left in the fourth quarter before ultimately forcing its third overtime in the past six contests.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Shawn Kimble opened the scoring on Saturday afternoon, giving the Greyhounds the early 1-0 lead. However, Belmont Abbey responded with three of its own to take a 3-1 advantage into the second frame.
 
Matthew Johnson sandwiched Kimble's second goal of the day early in the second quarter, before adding his third score three minutes later to put the score at five apiece. Parker Kump gave the Greyhounds the lead once again with 3:22 on the clock, but the Crusaders tallied back-to-back goals to hold the one-score lead at the break.
 
Johnson scored the final goal of the third period and first of the fourth to knot the contest at 10-10, but Belmont Abbey scored three times in less than three minutes to grab the lead once again. After Johnson scored his sixth of the day, John Pickett promptly won the faceoff and found Parker Johnson six seconds later to inch the Greyhounds back within one.
 
Kimble recorded his fifth hat trick of the season when he tied the game at 13 at the 2:05 mark. UIndy held the final possession after a length three-hour weather delay, but ultimately could not score. Billig did not make the UIndy faithful wait much longer, however, sneaking a shot past Belmont Abbey keeper Bryce Gifford just 39 seconds into the period.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
UIndy is now 4-0 this season in overtime, with four different Greyhounds scoring the game-winner.
 
The six goals from M. Johnson proved timely, giving the senior a new career-best in the scoring column. The middie out of Milford, Mich. continues the best season of his career, now having scored 34 times in 2019.
 
The Greyhounds assisted on eight of their 14 goals on Saturday, with Billig and Brian Robb handing out three apiece. The rookie Billig tallied two helpers to Johnson alone.
 
Jack Belobrajdic, along with Billig, scooped up a team-best five ground balls apiece against Belmont Abbey. Josh Jackson added four, while causing two turnovers.
 
MORE NOTES
Belmont Abbey turned the ball over 23 times, while UIndy coughed up possession on just 12 occasions … Pickett recorded his first-career point against the Crusaders, after stepping in on the faceoff and claiming 14-of-22 attempts at the x … Crusader attacker Liam Osborne tallied a game-high seven points, including five assists … P. Johnson scored twice on Saturday.

HOUND BYTES
Head coach Greg Stocks: "I think the guys played fantastic today. They have a habit of putting themselves in a little bit of a hole, and luckily for us we have been able to get out of most of them. It is something that really shows their mental toughness and ability to execute."

Billig: "Belmont Abbey is a great team. Earlier in the year, they took it to us, but I think this time around we really believed in each other, believed in the coaches and the game plan. We got down again but we were able to come back on top."
 
UP NEXT
The Greyhounds will look for redemption once again next Sunday when they travel back down to Gaffney, S.C. to battle No. 1 Limestone in the NCAA semifinal. Game time will be announced at a later time.
 
The Saints survived a quarterfinal contest on Saturday, downing fourth-seeded Tampa in double overtime.