GREENVILLE, Pa. -- The two teams traded goals in the fourth quarter, but it was Thiel that recorded the final tally to earn a 15-14 victory over Washington & Jefferson in Ohio River Lacrosse Conference action.

With the loss, the W&J men's lacrosse team suffers its first ORLC setback of the season to drop to 2-1 in league play and 3-8 overall. Thiel remains undefeated in the conference at 2-0, while improving to 7-2 on the year.

The Presidents never trailed through the first three quarters, but a man-up goal for the Tomcats at 14:01 of the fourth quarter tied the match at 11-11. Thiel grabbed its first lead of the day at 11:47 of the fourth to go up by a 12-11 score. Ben Ward (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) answered just 1:11 later with a man-up goal to knot the score at 12-12 off a Bryan Whipkey (Poland, Ohio/Cardinal Mooney) assist.

Thiel snatched the lead back at the 9:09-mark, but Devon Curran (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) fired in an unassisted goal 2:19 later as the score was once again deadlocked, 13-13. After the hosts went up by a 14-13 count at 5:33, Whipkey finished off a pass from Kyle Heinig (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) to force a 14-14 tie with 2:42 remaining. The eventual game-winner was scored by Thiel's Kyle Reib less than a minute later (1:48), and a final attempt by Heinig with 30 seconds to play was turned away to set the final margin at 15-14.

W&J built a 4-1 lead in the first 12:30 thanks to a pair of goals by Curran and one each from Ward and Whipkey. After Thiel got within 5-4 early in the second quarter, the Presidents recorded four of the final five goals of the first half to hold a 9-5 lead at halftime.

Behind an 18-10 advantage in the third quarter, Thiel led in shots, 55-44, including 34-27 on goal. The Tomcats also held a large edge in ground balls at 48-32.

Curran's 16 shots and six points were game highs as he scored four goals and assisted on two others. Ward contributed his sixth (third straight) hat trick of the year to post three goals and two assists. Heinig and Whipkey both notched two goals and two assists, while Mark Mandak (Enola, Pa./Trinity) scored twiced and Kyle MacKenzie (Manchester Center, Vt./Burr and Burton Seminary) found the back of the net once.

Joseph Tritschler (New Kensington, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) tied for the game high with three caused turnovers and led the Presidents with eight ground balls. David Whipkey (Poland, Ohio/Cardinal Mooney) was next with six ground balls and won 11 faceoffs.

Noah Cohen (Hewlett, N.Y./George W. Hewlett) turned in his ninth double-digit save performance in 11 matches by turning away 19 shots, the third most of his young career.

W&J will remain in ORLC action when it hosts Saint Vincent at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 5.