ARLINGTON, Va. - The Neumann University men's lacrosse team saw its unbeaten start to Atlantic East Conference play come to an end on the road at Marymount University on Saturday afternoon as the team fell by a score of 13-11.
Drew Conlon (3 g, 2 a) and
Max Nice (4 g, 1 a) each recorded five point games for the Knights, while
Colin Blake notched two goals and an assist.
Brendan Risley was the hard-luck loser in goal for Neumann, making 15 big saves in the loss.
Hoping to continue their undefeated start to conference play, the Knights got a dream road start on Saturday as Conlon found the back of the net just three minutes into the contest to give Neumann an early 1-0 lead. The visitors could not keep the early momentum though as Marymount stormed back to take a 2-1 lead with a pair of unanswered goals to end the quarter.
The Saints kept rolling into the second stanza, finding the back of the net again just over four minutes into the quarter to extend their lead to 3-1. From there, momentum from each team would see-saw back and forth. Neumann answered back with the next two goals of the frame from Nice and Conlon to equalize the contest at 3-3 with 6:46 left to play in the half, but Marymount would retaliate with two straight goals of their own in a 44 second span just two minutes later to regain a 5-3 advantage. It was then the Knights turn to respond and they did just that with a three-goal burst to take their first lead since Conlon's opening goal. Nice tallied twice in the run, while Blake added a goal and an assist in the rally as the visitors led 6-5 with 1:14 left in the half. The game seemed to be headed to halftime at the same score-line, but the Saints had other ideas. Using its quick-strike offense to its advantage again, Marymount struck twice in just 20 seconds in the final minute to stun the Knights and take a slim 7-6 lead into halftime.
The back and forth affair resumed into the third quarter, as the Knights quickly tied the game up at 7-7 via a goal from
Justice Brovero, then regained the lead with a goal from
Brett McLaughlin to make it 8-7 at the 7:51 mark. Marymount then inched their way back into the lead late in the frame, again scoring twice in quick succession (this time 44 seconds) to take a 9-8 advantage with 3:40 left in the quarter. Still trailing late in the frame, Neumann again fought back to tie things up. Conlon completed his hat trick by burying a shot with 24 seconds remaining to send the game to the fourth level at nine apiece.
Marymount again made the Knights chase the game early in the final frame. Two early goals from the Saints put Neumann in another hole from which it needed to dig itself out of with 10:55 left to play. The visitors wouldn't quit though and got one of those goals back at the 8:29 mark via Nice's fourth score of the day to make it 11-10. However, the ensuing face-off would demoralize the Knights and dig a hole that would be too deep for Neumann to recover from. Marymount won the draw clean and scored just seven seconds after Nice's goal to take all the wind out of the visitors' sails and reopen a two-goal lead at 12-10. The hosts then tacked on an insurance marker at 6:02 to widen their advantage to three with a 13-10 score-line. Blake and Conlon paired up for a Neumann goal with 3:33 left to give the Knights some hope, but that was as close as they would get on the day as they dropped their first conference contest by a score of 13-11.
Neumann (3-2, 2-1 Atlantic East) will look to regroup and get back to its winning ways next Wednesday, April 14th when it plays host to Gwynedd Mercy University. Game-time is scheduled for 4:00 PM.
