WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson College men's lacrosse team carried a one-goal advantage into the fourth quarter but was upended by Hood 12-9 on a rainy Wednesday evening at Alexandre Stadium.
 
Mark Mandak (Enola, Pa./Trinity) and Benjamin Ward (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillian) tallied back-to-back goals in the third quarter to tie the game and then give the Presidents a 9-8 lead with 4:15 left in the period. Neither team scored the rest of the quarter and W&J carried that slight edge into the fourth.
 
Hood scored four unanswered goals in the final 15 minutes, including the game-tying goal less than a minute into the quarter and the go-ahead goal with 13:13 to play. The Blazers tacked on insurance goals with 7:44 and 1:40 left in regulation to win 12-9.
 
The Presidents established an early 2-0 lead with goals from Alex Strain (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper Saint Clair) and Pat Brunner (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Saint Joseph) in the game's first three minutes of regulation. Hood answered with two goals of its own, tying the game at two with 3:21 left in the first.
 
Ward and Hood's Gavin Combe traded goals to close out the period with the score tied at three.
 
After Hood took a 5-4 lead in the second quarter, the Presidents scored three of the final four goals to finish out the first half ahead 7-6.
 
The third quarter saw Hood re-take the lead 8-7 before W&J recorded the final two tallies of the period.
 
Brunner paced the Presidents with three goals and one assist. Strain and Ward each registered three points, Strain with a goal and two assists and Ward with three goals.
 
Luke Geister (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) and Troy Palmer (Charleston, W.Va./Capital) each tallied an assist as well as two caused turnovers apiece.
 
Noah Cohen (Hewlett, N.Y./George W. Hewlett) recorded 16 saves between the pipes.
 
W&J cashed in on three-of-five extra-man-opportunities while Hood was one-of-four. The Presidents held a plus-seven edge in turnovers (17-24) on the evening.
 
W&J travels to Marietta Sunday afternoon for a 1:00 p.m. matchup with the Pioneers.