ASTON, Pa. - The Neumann University men's lacrosse team celebrated Senior Night in style on Wednesday evening, picking up a pivotal win in Atlantic East Conference action over Gwynedd Mercy University by a score of 12-9.

Eric Conlon was the hero on the evening for the Knights, scoring five times and adding an assist for a six point night. Brett McLaughlin (1 g, 2 a) and Rich Marshall (2 g, 1 a) each picked up three points in the win, while Wyatt Belotti scored twice. Brendan Risley was excellent in goal, stopping 14 shots on the evening.

Neumann set the tone for a strong performance just 40 seconds into the contest when Marshall rifled home a goal to put the Knights up 1-0 early. Gwynedd Mercy responded with three unanswered goals to make it 3-1 at the 7:44 mark of the first quarter, but it would be the last lead for the visitors the rest of the way. Neumann used a late first frame 3-0 run of their own to vault their way back into the lead heading into the second. Conlon opened his scoring account on the day with back to back goals less than a minute apart, then Harris Walker capped off the quarter with a goal at 3:45 to give the Knights a 4-3 advantage after one.

The hosts continued right where they left off to begin the second quarter. Goals from Conlon and Belotti extended the team's lead to 6-3 with just over 12 minutes left in the opening half. The Griffins finally broke Neumann's streak of five straight goals with a pair of their own to make it 6-5 midway through the frame, but Neumann again had an answer late in the half. Max Nice found the back of the net at 4:10, then Conlon tallied his fourth goal of the game 32 seconds later as the Knights went to halftime up by a score of 8-5.

The Griffins opened the second half scoring with a marker just under five minutes into the third quarter, but it would be all Neumann the rest of period. The Knights were a buzz-saw in the quarter, rattling off four goals over the last 7:46 of the quarter to take a commanding 12-6 lead to the final frame. Conlon capped off his day with his fifth and final goal of the game followed by tallies from McLaughlin, Belotti and Marshall.

Gwynedd Mercy tried to mount a comeback early in the fourth quarter, but despite three unanswered goals, that was as close as they would get. With the score at 12-9, Risley and the Neumann defense shut the door from there to seal the huge non-conference victory in the Knights' favor.

Neumann (6-5, 2-1 Atlantic East) returns to conference action this Saturday, April 13th with a trip to Marymount University. Game-time is scheduled for 1:00 PM.