STEUBENVILLE, Ohio -- The Washington & Jefferson men's lacrosse team extended its winning streak to five games as they downed host Franciscan University of Steubenville by a 15-4 margin Saturday in the Presidents' Athletic Conference opener for both teams. 

The win improves W&J to 5-3 overall while Franciscan drops to 3-4 in 2022. 

W&J led 5-1 after the first and by an 8-3 margin at halftime. The Presidents used a strong defensive effort in the second half to roll to the 11-goal victory. W&J outscored FUS by a 7-1 margin over the final 30 minutes. 

Five different Presidents found the back of the net in the first quarter. Alex Strain (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper Saint Clair) continued his torrid senior campaign, as he finished with a team-high seven goals. Carter Watts (Gilbersville, Pa./Boyertown Area) finished with seven points, which included six more assists. 

Sean McCaffery (Silver Spring, Md./Albert Einstein) finished with three goals to log his fourth hat tricks in the past five games. 

Defensively, Luke Geister (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) finished with 15 ground balls and eight caused turnovers. Ronin Keane (Medford, Mass./Arlington Catholic) won 16-of-22 face-off attempts and added seven ground balls. Sam Snider (Morgantown, W.Va./University) tacked on six ground balls, a goal and an assist. 

Henry Beardwood (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum School) finished with seven saves in net to pick up another victory. 

The Presidents held significant advantages in shots (60-18), ground balls (55-27), caused turnovers (22-10) and face-off wins (17-6). 

W&J hosts Westminster College for a conference match at Alexandre Stadium on Saturday, April 9. Start time is scheduled for 4 p.m.