ASTON, Pa. – After three consecutive games on the road, the Neumann University men's lacrosse team returned home on Saturday afternoon, falling by a score of 18-12 in non-conference action to Wilkes University.

Neumann received balanced scoring on the day as five Knights registered two or more goals. John McKendry led the way with three scores, while Ryan McNichol, Adam Fagan, Chris Augustine and Eric Conlon each tallied twice. Jack Newswanger was 18-for-31 on draws and also scooped up a team-high 11 ground-balls. Brendan Risley and Antonio Gibson split time in net, making seven combined saves in the loss.

Despite a quick pair of goals from Wilkes to open the game, the Knights battled back to even the score at two apiece in the opening quarter. Goals from Augustine and McKendry three minutes apart late in the period sent the game to the first break knotted up 2-2.

Neumann continued to roll into the second stanza. Completing a 6-0 run, the Knights rattled off four more goals in the first five minutes of the second quarter to lead 6-2 with 10:15 left to play in the opening half. Wilkes would not go quietly though, going on their own 4-0 run later in the quarter to tie the game back up at 6-6.

With the teams looking likely headed to the locker room tied at halftime, the Knights found a way to nudge themselves back in front before the break. An excellent behind the back pass from Colin Blake led to a Fagan goal to make it 7-6, then with just 17 seconds left in the frame a goal from Conlon gave the Knights an 8-6 lead heading into halftime.

The third quarter opened just as Neumann hoped, as Harris Walker buried a shot to the back of the net to put the Knights up 9-6, but the rest of the quarter would be all Colonels.Wilkes rallied for seven of the game's next eight goals in the period and turned a three-goal deficit into a three-goal lead (13-10) as the game moved to the fourth and final frame.

The Knights looked to fight back in the fourth quarter, but the Colonels were too much. Neumann received goals from McKendry and Fagan in the period, but five more Wilkes goals sealed the Knights fate on the day. The visitors would head back to Northeastern Pennsylvania with an 18-12 road win.

Neumann (1-4) gets back to action on Wednesday, March 14^th when the team heads to Misericordia University. Game-time is scheduled for 4:00 PM.