LATROBE, Pa. -- A slow start doomed the Washington & Jefferson College men's lacrosse team in a 17-6 setback to Saint Vincent College in a Presidents' Athletic Conference match on Sunday. 

The host Bearcats built a 5-1 lead after the first quarter before carrying a 9-3 advantage into halftime. Saint Vincent then outscored W&J by an 8-3 margin over the final 30 minutes to secure the victory. 

After surrendering the first four goals of the match, Reilly Oliverio (Carlisle, Pa./Trinity) tallied an unassisted score at the 5:34 mark of the first quarter. The Presidents cut the deficit to 5-3 early in the second quarter when Pat Moeller (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) and Alex Strain (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper Saint Clair) scored back-to-back goals. Saint Vincent countered with four straight goals over the final 7:07 of the half. 

Dylan Shepherd (Eagle, Idaho/Eagle), Benjamin Ward (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) and Strain registered the three goals during the final 30 minutes of action to conclude the scoring for W&J. 

Noah Cohen (Hewlett, N.Y./George W. Hewlett) recorded 13 saves in net for the Presidents. Joseph Tritschler (New Kensington, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) snagged five ground balls and two caused turnovers to pace the Presidents defensively. 

The loss drops W&J to 0-2 in the conference and 5-6 overall. Saint Vincent improves to 2-0 in the PAC and 4-6 overall. 

W&J travels to Westminster College for a PAC match on Wednesday, April 10. Start time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.