SCRANTON, Pa. – A big second half by RPI proved costly as The University of Scranton men's lacrosse team (1-2) dropped an 18-14 decision to the Engineers (4-0) in a non-conference matchup on Wednesday afternoon at Weiss Field in Scranton.

Things were deadlocked at nine apiece at halftime, but RPI would score eight of the next 10 goals of the game to eventually take a 17-11 lead in the early stages of the fourth quarter.

The Engineers are listed among the others receiving votes category in the most recent USILA Top 20 poll.

The two teams traded goals for a majority of the first quarter and a man up goal from junior Mitchell Kozak (Floral Park, N.Y./Floral Park Memorial) at the 3:29 mark cut the lead to 4-3 before two late RPI goals made it a 6-3 game after one. From there, the Engineers grabbed an 8-5 lead, but Scranton rallied over the final seven plus minutes of the half behind a hat trick from sophomore Matthew McAree (Manhasset, N.Y./Manhasset). Junior Chris Crapanzano (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge) knotted things at nine apiece for Scranton with 2:11 to play in the half.

RPI tallied the first three goals of the third quarter to take a 12-9 lead before the Royals cut the lead to two at both 12-10 and 13-11 on goals from junior Matt Solleder (Ramsey, N.J./Don Bosco Prep) and senior Cole Lukasiewicz (Havertown, Pa./Haverford), but were unable to get any closer the rest of the way. The Engineers' Alex Ehrenstein scored consecutive goals in the fourth quarter to open up the afore-mentioned 17-11 advantage with 9:36 remaining.

McAree paced the Royals with three goals, while Crapanzano and Kozak tallied two apiece. Solleder and senior Mike Bouhall (Lynbrook, N.Y./Lynbrook) both added a four point day with a goal and three assists for head coach Michael Hofmeister's team.

Crapanzano also registered six ground balls and two caused turnovers, a team-high in both categories, as sophomore Andrew Lord (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) notched a pair of caused turnovers as well.

The visitors were led by four goals from Luke Murphy and two apiece from five other players.

In goal for Scranton, sophomore Jack Steer (Essex Fells, N.J./West Essex) made 15 saves, while Joseph Perry played the final 30 minutes for the Engineers and made six saves to record the win.

RPI held a 51-44 advantage in shots and both teams committed 17 turnovers on the afternoon.

The Royals hit the road to take on No. 17 SUNY Cortland on Saturday afternoon with opening faceoff slated for 12 p.m.

--ROYALS--