WORCESTER, Mass. - Kevin Lewis and Eric Joseph tallied three points apiece, but the Lafayette men's lacrosse team couldn't dig out of a 5-0 first-quarter hole at Holy Cross on Saturday afternoon, falling to the Crusaders by an 11-6 score.

Lewis posted a goal and two assists, while Joseph scored a pair to go along with one helper. Conor Walters added two assists, while Dillon Confalone, Jason Sands and Will McCarthy netted the other three markers for the Maroon and White.

Holy Cross came out firing on all cylinders, scoring all five goals in the first quarter, including two each from Sean Wilkinson and Jon Vogel. Joseph finished a Lewis feed for a man-up goal to stop the run at the start of the second quarter, but Holy Cross responded less than four minutes later to extend its lead to 6-1.

The Leopards hung tough towards the end of the half as Sands finished man-up at 3:14 and Confalone took a Joseph helper and hit the back of the net with 20 seconds remaining to send the game into the break within striking distance, 6-3.

The teams traded goals to open the third quarter but a 20-minute stretch from the midway point of the third into the latter stages of the fourth broke the game open as a four-goal Crusader run pushed the edge to 11-4 with 3:18 to play.

Lewis and McCarthy added goals within 26 seconds of each other in the final minute, but it proved to be too little, too late in an 11-6 defeat.

Ben Falcone started between the pipes, making six saves in his ninth loss of the year. Shots were 43-28 in favor of the home side, while Holy Cross won 13 of the game's 21 faceoffs.

The Leopards head back out of conference on Tuesday for a meeting with NJIT on the campus of Drew University in Madison, N.J. Opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m.