In a classic finish on a Saturday night between the bricks, Riley Seay scored the game-winning goal at the 1:39 mark of overtime to send the Bears past No. 14 Limestone, 18-17. Seay netted his third goal of the game in sudden victory as Limestone forced overtime with three goals in the 1:23. The game-winner was set up by a huge OT save, as well as another save at the end of regulation, by Rob Pensabene who broke the single-game record with 22 saves in just his third start. With the win, the Bears clinch the No. 2 seed in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament and a bye to the Semifinals on Friday, April 28.

Limestone scored three of the first four goals to take an early 3-1 advantage in the first quarter before the Bears responded. Colten McCracken started a 4-0 LR run to take a 5-3 lead before Limestone cut it to 5-4 after one.

Myles Moffat pushed it to 6-4 but the Saints evened the contest with back-to-back goals. LR would end the first half with three unanswered tallies from Landon Parker, Jarrett Huff and Tommy Aguilar to take a 9-6 edge into the break.

Limestone quickly erased that three goal deficit with three goals in a 4:04 span to open the second half. The Bears closed out the third quarter with four of the next five goals and two coming off the stick of Toron Eccleston to make it 13-10 after three.

A man-up goal from Aguilar gave the Bears their largest lead of the game at 15-11 with 10:34 to play. Limestone cut it to two with just over four minutes to play but McCracken’s second goal with 3:51 to play made it 17-14 LR and looked to seal the deal.

However, the guests had different ideas. Zachary Terry scored at the 1:23 mark and Jason Thomfohrde scored twice in a 20 second span to stun the Bears and even the game at 17. The Saints won the face off and held for the last possession but Pensabene responded with his 21st stop of the night to force OT.

Limestone won the face off to open overtime and Thomfohdre had a great look that Pensabene denied. Eccleston was stoned on the other end but LR’s ride forced a failed clear setting the stage for Seay’s dramatic game winner.

Moffat and Eccleston each scored four goals and Seay had three. The previous record for saves in a game was held by Patrick Stasio and Alex Squires who each had 20 in a game. Stasio did so in 2011 and Squires in 2014.

Limestone’s 59 shots were the most by an opponent all season and the 39 on goal were 15 more than LR had faced in 2023. The Bears wrap up the regular season with a 7-1 mark at Moretz Stadium.

This was just the 14th overtime game in LR history with the Bears improving to 9-5 in those games. The last overtime game came in the NCAA Tournament against Tampa in 2021 where the Bears prevailed 16-15 on a McCracken game-winner.

Limestone’s Michael McGarry scored five times on 18 shots.

LR is 12-2 overall, 7-1 in the South Atlantic Conference. The Bears close out the regular season with a trip to Coker next Saturday at 7 p.m.