GWYNEDD VALLEY, Pa. – The Neumann University Men's Lacrosse dropped a 15-7 decision on Saturday afternoon in an Atlantic East Conference game against Gwynedd Mercy University.
 
After Gwynedd Mercy opened the scoring, Kaden Adams found Cooper Dee tiptoeing the crease and he stuffed in the goal with 8:53 left in the first. The Griffins answered with three straight goals to push ahead 4-1 with under three minutes to go in the first quarter. Connor Hurley, with 1:52 to go, got free from 15 yards out and whipped in a sidewinder, cutting the lead to two at the end of 15 minutes.
 
Hurley got the next Knights goal as well, splitting the defense with a swim move and bouncing it in. Gwynedd Mercy would snap back with two goals in 25 seconds to again extend the lead to three. With 8:06 left in the half, Dee found a loose ball in the crease and shoveled it in. The Griffins scored the final goal of the half to lead 7-4 at the break.
 
32 seconds into the third, Gwynedd Mercy scored their eighth goal but after they settled down, Neumann formed a response. Dee scored a goal with 9:24 left in the period and Matt Morris added a man-up goal less than two minutes later. The Griffins added two more to close the third up by four. They continued to pull away in the fourth with three more in a row. Only another Dee goal would slow the pace as Gwynedd Mercy finished off with the win.
 
Dee finished with four goals and Hurley added two. Mike Lago helped defensively with two caused turnovers. Bryan Avanzato had a caused turnover and six ground balls. Nate McLaughlin had a solid day at the faceoff "X", winning 16 of 26 draws with nine ground balls. Owen Avelar made 25 saves to keep Knights close.
 
Neumann (0-13, 0-3 Atlantic East) will close the season on Wednesday with a home game against Immaculata University starting at 4:00 PM.