WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson College men's lacrosse team fell short in a back-and-forth battle to the Anderson University Ravens in a 9-8 decision Wednesday afternoon under sunny skies at Alexandre Stadium.
The loss drops the Presidents to 3-4 overall. Anderson moves to 2-2 in 2023.
Both teams struggled to connect offensively out of the games as Anderson tallied the lone goal of the first quarter.
The Ravens took a 3-1 lead heading into the half.
Zach Mey (Bridgeville, Pa. / South Fayette) found the back on the net off of a quick pass by
Paul Shook (Camp Hill, Pa. / Trinity) with just 28 seconds left in the frame. However, the Ravens answered with a late score of their own to take a multi-goal lead into the break.
The Presidents and the Ravens traded three goals apiece in the third quarter of play as things picked up offensively. Trailing by a 4-1 margin, W&J tallied three-straight goals and evened the score at 4-4 midway through the frame. Shook,
Carter Watts (Gilbertsville, Pa. / Boyertown) and
Sean McCaffrey (Silver Spring, Md. / Albert Einstein) scored consecutively during the run. Anderson tallied back-to-back goals late in the third to take a 6-4 lead into the final quarter of play.
W&J tallied four of the first five goals of the fourth to take an 8-7 lead on a goal by Watts with 3:12 to play. The Watts unassisted tally provided W&J with its first and only lead of the game. Anderson scored with 2:26 and 1:38 to play, respectively, to earn the 9-8 win.
Watts led the Presidents with three goals while Mey added two goals. Both Watts and Mey finished with four-point efforts.
Sean Berardino (Millersville, Md. / Archbishop Spalding),
Levi Krebs (Sewickley, Pa. / Pine Richland),
Ronin Keane (Medford, Mass. / Arlington Catholic) tallied five ground balls apiece.
James Deiuliis (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Upper Saint Clair) had four caused turnovers on the day.
Noah Bracco (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Central Catholic) made 18 saves over 60 minutes of action in goal.
W&J will travel to Juniata College on Tuesday, March 21. Start time is scheduled for 5 p.m.
