PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The Lafayette men's lacrosse team fought to within two at 5-3 headed into the halftime intermission on the road at Penn on Tuesday evening. However, a 5-0 third quarter propelled the Quakers to a 12-6 victory.
"Their transition hurt us and their goalie was excellent," head coach Jim Rogalski said. "I thought we had good goalie play as well, turning stops into opportunities, but we didn't shoot well enough to be successful today."
The game was fairly even throughout with the difference coming through offensive efficiency. Penn led in shots, 43-36, but were able to convert 12 times, while Lafayette managed just three scores before the final quarter.
Goalie was an area of strength on both sides with senior Ben Falcone making 10 saves for the Leopards and freshman Jonathan Anastos seeing his first time for the Maroon and White, stopping four shots in just over seven minutes of action. Reed Junkin recorded 16 saves for Penn, making a number of key stops to thwart Lafayette scoring runs.
The game opened slowly as Penn scored the lone goal in the first quarter after almost 10 minutes of scoreless play. Kevin Brown added his second to start the second period, but Matt Close got the Leopards on the board with 11:03 remaining before the break to make it 2-1 Penn.
Each side traded goals over the next four minutes before a pair from Penn looked like it gave the Quakers momentum into the intermission. However, with 2:08 left, Eric Joseph and Will McCarthy connected to push the game into half at just a two-goal margin, 5-3.
The start of the second half, though, is when Penn took over. It took just seven seconds for Nick Doktor to push the edge to three and the Quakers rallied off seven straight into the fourth quarter, leading 12-3 with 8:08 to play.
The first career goals on back-to-back shots from Luke Cummings ended the Penn run with less than three minutes to play. Conor Walters finished a Joseph feed with 11 seconds left to make the final, 12-6.
The two sides were even in ground balls at 29, while Lafayette won 11 of the game's 21 faceoffs with freshman Michael Sullivan doing all the work at the x. The Leopards won the turnover battle, forcing 15 and committing 13, but were 0-for-2 on their extra-man opportunities.
Lafayette returns to Patriot League play on Saturday, traveling to Annapolis, Md. for a meeting with Navy at 12 p.m.
