ASTON, Pa. - The Neumann University men's lacrosse team continued its winning ways as it returned home on Sunday afternoon, picking up a hard-fought 12-9 victory over visiting Susquehanna University in non-conference action.
 
Colin Blake (4 g, 2 a) and Drew Conlon (4 g, 1 a) each scored four times on the day, while Wyatt Belotti tallied twice. Rich Marshall recorded a goal and two assists in the win and Kyle Daly registered two assists to go along with a team-high 10 ground balls. Brendan Risley earned the win in goal with seven saves, while Jack Newswanger won 18-of-23 draws and also picked up 10 ground balls.
 
Despite Susquehanna's 1-5 record coming into the non-conference matchup, the game would be closely contested throughout. The River Hawks showed they were a worthy adversary early in the first frame, scoring twice to take a quick 2-0 lead over the hosts. Neumann answered back late in the quarter though, scoring twice to level the score in the final minutes of the period. Conlon buried a shot while the Knights were a man up to cut the lead to 2-1, then Blake found the back of the net to tie things at two apiece after a nifty spin move just outside the crease left his defender in the dust.
 
Susquehanna again had the better of the early second stanza play, scoring 50 seconds into the quarter to go up by a score of 3-2. Much like the first frame though, the Knights would fight their way back. Using a three goal run midway through the period, Neumann took its first lead of the day at 5-3 with 10:56 left in the quarter. Conlon knotted things up 3-3 with an outrageous behind the back shot, Belotti ripped home a long-range effort to make it 4-3, then Max Nice capped things off with the team's fifth goal of the contest. The hosts could not get to halftime with the lead though, as the River Hawks closed the half on a run of their own. The visitors tallied twice in the final five minutes of the frame to send the game to halftime even at 5-5.
 
The game remained a back and forth affair after halftime. Susquehanna regained the lead 1:37 into the third quarter, but Neumann again answered back with a three goal blitz. Goals from Marshall, Belotti and Blake over a two and a half minute span gave the Knights an 8-6 lead with 6:57 left in the period. A sequence late in the quarter allowed the River Hawks back into the game though. After three penalties were called on the hosts, Susquehanna took advantage by scoring a man up goal with 1:54 left in the frame to bring the score back to 8-7 moving to the fourth.
 
The barn-burner continued into the final fifteen minutes of play as the two teams continued to trade punches. A Susquehanna goal at 9:21 was sandwiched by a pair of Conlon markers, making it 10-8 in favor of the Knights with just over eight minutes to play. The River Hawks were able to keep things close with a goal at 6:56 to stay within one goal at 10-9, but it was as close the visitors would get. Using two late goals from Blake, Neumann finally broke the game open, sealing the win by a score of 12-9.
 
Neumann (5-1) will have a few days to rest up before returning home for another non-conference matchup versus Goucher College. Game-time is scheduled for 4:00 PM.