BALTIMORE, Md. – The Lafayette men's lacrosse team got off to a solid start, but UMBC was the better team in the second half, moving past the Leopards by a 19-8 score in Baltimore, Maryland on Saturday afternoon.

The X hurt the Leopards in an otherwise even contest as 25-of-30 in faceoff wins for the Retrievers led to a 47-23 advantage in shots and a 36-20 edge in ground balls. Freshman Ryan Ness made 14 saves between the pipes and sophomore Jake Floyd-Jones added one stop in defeat.

UMBC scored the first three goals of the contest in the opening quarter, but Lafayette countered with three of its own as Robbie Garavente's tally made it 3-3 after one. The Retrievers opened the second with a marker, but senior co-captain Conor Walters followed up a Connar Dehnert score with the fifth Leopard goal to put the Maroon and White in front for the only time at 5-4 with 8:57 left in the half.

The home side broke it open with an eight-goal response around the halftime break, leading 12-5 with 10:00 remaining in the third. Lafayette broke the run with two of the next four, but another four-goal burst from the Retrievers sealed the Leopards' fate, running out the clock on a 19-8 final.

Walters and Dehnert each recorded a pair of scores to lead the Leopards offensively, with sophomore Bryan Hess adding a goal and an assist. Freshman Cole Dutton, Garavente and Luke Cummings were the other goal-scorers for the Maroon and White.

Both teams committed 13 turnovers on the afternoon and the Leopards converted on their lone extra-man opportunity. The loss moves Lafayette to 4-7 overall in 2019 and UMBC improves to 2-6.

Next up for the Maroon and White is a return to Fisher Stadium this weekend for a Patriot League tilt with Holy Cross at noon.