GREENVILLE, Pa. – A strong first half offensively helped the Washington & Jefferson College men's lacrosse team overcome the Thiel Tomcats by a score of 11-9 in a Presidents' Athletic Conference game at Alumni Stadium in Mercer County on Saturday afternoon. 
 
Early goals from Carter Watts (Gilbertsville, Pa. / Boyertown) and Paul Shook (Camp Hill, Pa. / Trinity) quickly put the Presidents up 2-0 to start the game. However, despite another goal from Watts and one from senior Nathan Petrarco (North Huntingdon, Pa. / Norwin), the Tomcats were able to close the deficit and tally another to put themselves up 5-4 at the end of the first quarter.
 
Thiel would find the back of the net first in the second to extend their lead to 6-4. The next three goals would come from the Red & Black, as they rallied to take a 7-6 advantage. Aiden Herman (West End, N.C./Pinecrest), Shook, and Watts scored consecutively. 
 
Each team would score once more before the end of the first half. Thiel would tie things up, 7-7, at the 4:01 mark. Herman would answer with a goal and cap the scoring to get W&J the narrow lead into halftime. 
 
Both teams showcased great defense in the third quarter. Both teams were held scoreless for nearly nine minutes before tallying a goal in the third quarter. Thiel would break the offensive drought as Bennett Medyn scored his fifth goal of the evening for the Tomcats. The Medyn score tied things up at 8-8.
 
Watts would tack on another score for the Red & Black as they regained the one-goal lead at the 2:56 mark. Zack Mey (Bridgeville, Pa. / South Fayette) would join the scoring ranks as he netted an insurance goal with 1:20 to go in the third. This would send the Presidents into the final quarter up by a 10-8 margin. 
 
Both teams would only score a single goal in the final 15 minutes of play. Following a Tomcat goal, Petrarco scored the final goal of the game for the Red & Black to seal the win with an 11-9 score. Neither team scored for the past 10-minutes plus of the game.
 
Watts led the team with four goals while Petrarco, Herman, and Shook all put up two apiece. Shook paced the team with three assists.
 
Herman led in ground balls picking up five. Braden Petrarco (North Huntingdon, Pa. / Norwin) led in caused turnovers with two.

Ronin Keane (Medford, Mass./Arlington Catholic) won 11 face-offs to move into second all-time in program history.
 
Henry Beardwood (Wilmington, Del. / Salesianum School) started and picked up the second consecutive win in goal for the Presidents as he and made five saves.
 
W&J hosts the Chatham Cougars in their next conference matchup on Wednesday, April 10. Start time is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Alexandre Stadium.