LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Lafayette men's lacrosse team hung tough with Bucknell in Lewisburg on Friday evening, but the Bison converted more of their chances on the offensive end to come away with a 14-7 victory.
Shots were fairly even with the Bison holding a slight 34-31 edge, but the Leopards couldn't keep the home side off the board long enough to sustain a comeback in the second half. Lafayette got stuck with an early deficit once again and could not dig out in the 14-7 loss.
Dillon Confalone was the lone Leopard with multiple points on the night, netting two goals on five shots. Eric Joseph, Luke Cummings, Will McCarthy, Conor Walters and Scott McAvoy provided the rest of the offense with one apiece.
Jonathan Anastos suffered his first loss between the pipes, making five saves in 56 minutes of action. Matt Cortese spelled the freshman for the final four minutes of the contest, giving up one goal.
After falling into a four-goal hole to start the game, Confalone registered an unassisted tally to finish off the first quarter with the Leopards down by three, 4-1. Bucknell answered to open the second, but Joseph responded to make it 5-2 with 9:48 to go in the first half. The Bison added a sixth with 5:32 to go and that would be the final tally of the opening 30 minutes with the game going into intermission at 6-2.
The teams traded goals in the third quarter as a Bison tally late made it 9-4 into the fourth. Bucknell sufficiently put the game away with four straight to open up the final period, making it 13-4 with 4:09 to play. Three of the last four came off Lafayette sticks, but it proved too little, too late, as the Leopards fell by a 14-7 final.
Michael Sullivan lost all seven of his opportunities at the X, but his teammates picked him up as Jack McMahon, Adam Broeckart and Giovanni Girardi combined to win 10-of-17 faceoffs on the night. Bucknell held the edge in ground balls, 36-17, while neither team could convert on five extra-man opportunities.
Lafayette will close out its season on April 22, hosting Colgate for Senior Night at 7:30 p.m. at Fisher Stadium.
