ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The University of Scranton men's lacrosse team (2-3) grabbed an early lead, but was unable to hold on in a 13-9 loss to the Muhlenberg Mules (2-2) in non-conference action on Thursday night at Scotty Wood Stadium in Allentown.

Scranton scored the first four goals of the game over six plus minutes including two from junior Mitchell Kozak (Floral Park, N.Y./Floral Park Memorial) to take a 4-0 lead at the 7:41 mark of the first quarter. Following a Muhlenberg tally, sophomore Matthew McAree (Manhasset, N.Y./Manhasset) found the back of the net for the Royals, but a late Mules goal cut the lead to 5-2 after one. The second quarter was where Muhlenberg started to take control of the game and a goal from Ethan Grossman with just one second to go in the half gave the hosts the lead for good at 6-5.

The Mules would open up an 8-5 lead with two more goals in the third quarter, but senior Cole Lukasiewicz (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) drew the Royals back within two at the 13:58 mark of the fourth quarter. Following Lukasiewicz's goal however, Muhlenberg tallied four of the next five capped by a goal from James Dalimonte that extended the lead to 12-7 with 6:58 remaining. From there, Scranton was unable to get any closer than three goals the rest of the way.

Kozak and McAree paced Scranton offensively with two goals apiece, while senior Mike Bouhall (Lynbrook, N.Y./Lynbrook) added two goals and an assist. To go along with his goal, Lukasiewicz scooped up a team-high three ground balls for the Royals and sophomore Andrew Lord (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) recorded two ground balls and a caused turnover.

Freshman Evan Rosa (Weehawken, N.J./The Pennington School) made his second consecutive start in goal for Scranton and made 16 saves on the night.

Muhlenberg was led by a hat trick from Wyatt Malia and three other players with two goals apiece to go along with eight saves from Max May in goal.

The Royals will now enjoy some time off before returning to action on Wednesday, March 23 versus Eastern. Opening faceoff at Weiss Field is slated for 4 p.m.

--ROYALS--