MONTCLAIR, N.J. - The Neumann University men's lacrosse team suffered a heart-breaking loss on Wednesday afternoon, falling on the road at Montclair State University in non-conference overtime thriller by a score of 13-12.
 
The dynamic duo of Colin Blake (4 g, 3 a) and Drew Conlon (3 g, 3 a) carried the Knights offense again on the afternoon, as the pair combined for 13 points in the loss. Wyatt Belotti (2 g), Brett McLaughlin (1 g, 1 a) and Max Nice (1 g, 1 a) all chipped in with two points, while Brendan Risley made 15 saves in goal.
 
Neumann made the long trek up the New Jersey Turnpike on Wednesday afternoon looking for a little bit of St. Patrick's Day luck as the team sought out its second straight win to open the 2021 season. The opening period of play would prove to be a good indicator of what the rest of the contest had in store, as the two teams battled back and forth throughout the first 15 minutes of play. Montclair State opened the scoring just 26 seconds into the game, but the Knights quickly found their legs and equalized the score a minute and a half later as Blake fired home off a feed from McLaughlin to make it 1-1 with 13:17 left in the frame. The Red Hawks took their second lead of the quarter midway through the quarter, but again the visitors had an answer. Using a man-advantage, McLaughlin capped off a stellar period for himself by scoring at 4:34 to knot the contest back up at 2-2. Nice nearly made it 3-2 in favor of Neumann late in the quarter, but his shot pinged off the iron as the game remained level heading to the second.
 
The tightly contested matchup resumed in the second quarter, this time with the script flipped. It was the Knights' turn to jump out in front, as two goals early in the period from Conlon and Belotti gave them their first lead of the game at 4-2 with 12:20 to go in the half. The two teams traded goals midway through the frame with Nice scoring at the 8:30 mark to make it 5-3, but much like Neumann in the first quarter, Montclair State would not go away quietly. The hosts tallied twice in the final 3:27 of the quarter to send the game to halftime even at five apiece.
 
Neumann was finally able to gain some separation from the Red Hawks in the third quarter, but it didn't come easy. After two early Knights goals from Conlon and Blake, the hosts and battled back to tie the game at 7-7 with 4:42 left in the period. The visitors tried their best to blow the game open late in the frame though, again accelerating in front with a pair of goals in the final minute of the quarter to take a 9-7 lead. Blake played a part in each marker, assisting on a Belotti goal with 44 seconds left, then scoring at the 15 second mark to give Neumann a two-goal advantage heading to the fourth.
 
The two-goal lead would not last long in the final frame. Montclair State tickled the twine twice in the opening four minutes of the quarter to tie the contest once again. The see-saw battle again teetered towards Neumann though in the middle portion of the period. The Knights scored three unanswered goals, with Blake playing a part in each of them. The senior attacker scored at the 10:51 mark then punctuated the run with assists on goals from Conlon and Kyle Daly as the visitors took a 12-9 lead with 6:49 remaining. The lead seemed safe, but in this wild non-conference battle, a Montclair State comeback almost seemed inevitable. The Red Hawks chipped away with one goal at 5:32, then notched a pair of goals separated by just 50 seconds in the game's final three minutes to balance the scoreline at 12-12 with 1:48 to play. Things could have gotten even worse for the Knights as the hosts had two late chances, but Risley came up huge, stopping both Red Hawk shots to send the game to overtime.
 
Jack Newswanger came up clutch with a face-off win to start the extra session, but the Knights could not make anything of the opening possession. A Montclair State turnover gave Neumann a second opportunity to win the game, but a Belotti shot sailed high as the game remained tied. The Red Hawks then took full advantage of their first attacking possession, scoring with 58 seconds left in overtime to clinch the exhilarating non-conference win.
 
Neumann will have two weeks to wait for it's next game, when it takes on conference rival Immaculata University in its Atlantic East home opener on Wednesday, March 31st. The Senior Day contest is scheduled for 4:00 PM.