WASHINGTON, Pa. – A dominant opening quarter of play by Westminster College allowed the visitors to record a 19-5 victory over the Washington & Jefferson College men's lacrosse team Wednesday evening in Presidents' Athletic Conference action at Alexandre Stadium.
 
W&J falls to 5-11 overall and 1-6 in league play. Westminster moves to 9-7 overall and 4-3 against conference foes.

The Presidents were led offensively by Braden Petrarco (Irwin, Pa./Norwin), who posted a hat trick effort in the loss. The three-goal effort matches the season single-game high output for Petrarco. Offensively, Paul Shook (Camp Hill, Pa./Trinity) and Austin Hopkins (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) netted the two other scores for the Presidents.

Petrarco added four ground balls and two caused turnovers. Anthony DeLuca (Philadelphia, Pa./Father Judge) matched the game high with four ground balls. Hopkins chipped in three ground balls and two caused turnovers.

The Titans led by a 9-1 margin after the first quarter. The visitors scored all five second quarter goals to move their lead to 14-1 at halftime. Shook accounted for the lone first half goal by the Presidents. Fueled by all three Petrarco goals, W&J outpaced Westminster by a 3-2 margin in the third. The Titans finished off the victory by scoring three of the four goals during the fourth quarter. Hopkins caused a turnover, picked up the ground ball before racing the other way and scoring past the Titans' keeper for the final W&J goal of the night. 

Stephen Moschetta (Washington, Pa./Trinity) started and made six saves during the first half. Noah Bracco (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Central Catholic) stopped five shots over 19-plus minutes of work before giving way to John Novoselich (Cornwall on Hudson, N.Y./James I. Oneill), who tallied four saves over the final 10-plus minutes.

Westminster held advantages in shots (57-22), ground balls (38-23) and face-off wins (22-5).

W&J concludes its season with Senior Day on Saturday (April 26). The Presidents host the Franciscan Barons for a 12 p.m. match at Alexandre Stadium. The Red and Black will recognize Zach Mey (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette), Shook, DeLuca and Hopkins prior to the start of the contest.