FREDERICK, Md. – Three consecutive goals in the fourth put the Washington & Jefferson men's lacrosse team within striking distance of Hood, however a Blazer goal in the final two minutes sealed a 14-11 W&J loss in nonconference play on Wednesday, March 7.
 
Trailing 12-8 entering the final frame, Hood scored at 11:38 to increase its lead to five. One minute later, the Presidents started a comeback on an unassisted goal from Sam Lex (Butler, Pa./Butler) followed by Mark Mandak (Enola, Pa./Trinity) at 7:56. Just over three minutes later, Rocco Ruscitto (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) cut the Presidents' deficit to two, thanks to a feed from Brendan Tribeck (Enola, Pa./Trinity) with under five minutes remaining before the final tally of the game from Hood.
 
The Presidents held a 3-2 lead after the first quarter on goals from Mandak, Liam Sullivan (Hingham, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) and Ruscitto. Hood took control of the game after that, scoring nine of the next 10 goals in the game spanning from the second to third quarter to claim an 11-4 advantage. W&J scored four of the next five goals to get back into the game before the start of the fourth period.
 
Tribeck, Ruscitto and Ben Ward (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) each tallied three points to lead the W&J offense. Ruscitto notched his first career hat trick while Tribeck and Ward added three assists each. Mandak and Lex both scored twice to round out the multi-goal scorers for W&J.
 
Michael Aaron Pray III (Gaithersburg, Md./Maret School (D.C.)) led the Presidents' defense with six ground balls and won 13-of-28 faceoffs. Joseph Tritschler (New Kensington, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) scooped up five ground balls and added his second career goal while also causing two turnovers. In total, seven different Presidents picked up two or more ground balls
 
Noah Cohen (Hewlett, N.Y./George W. Hewlett) stopped 13 shots in net for W&J in all 60 minutes in cage.
 
The Presidents will wrap up the nonconference portion of their 2018 schedule with a home game against Mount Union on Wednesday, March 14, at 7:00 p.m.