CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Lafayette men's lacrosse took on ACC foe Virginia on Saturday, resulting in a 13-8 defeat at Klöckner Stadium. Freshman Benjamin DiBattista led the Leopards' offense with two goals, while Truitt Sunderland and Millon McCabe both notched hat tricks for the Cavaliers.

Sunderland opened the game's scoring at the 12:19 mark, but Lafayette was quick to tie it back up thanks to Joshua Heaney's 23^rd goal of the season. The hosts responded with a four-goal spurt to take a 5-1 lead at the conclusion of the first period.

Both squads tallied three goals apiece in the second quarter. McCabe kept Virginia's momentum going with 12:52 to go by completing his hat trick. Just under a minute later, senior Nick Rossi shifted the game's momentum with a goal of his own. Freshman Mason Hill tacked on a goal 11 seconds later and DiBattista followed up with a tally at the 9:48 mark, cutting the Cavaliers' lead to two (6-4). The hosts added two more scores before the break and led 8-4 at the intermission.

The Cavaliers were first to strike in the third stanza, after Sunderland scored his third of the day 47 seconds into the half. Griffin Schutz found the back of the net several minutes later, but the Leopards weren't backing down. Senior midfielders Liam Sargent and John Galbraith both scored in the final six and a half minutes to bring the Maroon and White within striking distance (10-6).

Virginia narrowly outscored Lafayette in the final quarter (3-2), but at the final whistle the hosts move to 6-7 on the year.

Despite the result, Lafayette had a solid day from the faceoff x, winning 13 of its 23 attempts. Sophomore Nick Faccone finished 6-9 and senior Evan Prince boasted seven wins in 14 tries.

Lafayette concludes its regular season slate at 7 p.m. on Friday as it travels across town to face archrival Lehigh in Rivalry 97.
 

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