LYNCHBURG, VA – The Randolph College men's lacrosse team outscored visiting Susquehanna University (PA) 7-6 in the first and last quarters, but the middle two periods doomed the WildCats as they dropped a non-conference tilt 18-10 in action from WildCat Stadium Saturday afternoon.

                The WildCats (1-4) jumped out on top early in the affair, as senior Jon O'Hara (Yorktown, VA/Grafton) netted an unassisted goal and then set up first-year Andrew Gleitz (Plymouth, IN/Culver Academy) to take a quick 2-0 lead with 9:10 to play in the first period.

                Susquehanna finished the first quarter with two goals to knot things up going into the second period. The Crusaders (4-2) took their first lead just 41 seconds into the second frame, as Connor Moran netted one of his five goals on the day. Junior Bobby Crosby (Bethel, CT/Bethel) scored his eighth of the season to tie the game at three, but a 5-1 spurt right before the half put SU up 8-4 at the half.

                The visiting Crusaders continue to fire on all cylinders after intermission, tallying the first five goals of the second half before junior Colton Wood (Chula Vista, CA/Otay Ranch) netted a goal with 3:07 left in the third quarter to break the run. Susquehanna scored the game's next three goals, but Randolph responded with a three-goal spurt over a 1:12 stretch. Wood would continue the run for Randolph, scoring twice more to bring Randolph to within six but that was as close as the 'Cats would get.

                Randolph was paced by the four goals from Wood, who upped his team-leading goal total to 12. O'Hara finished with two goals and an assist, while Crosby netted a pair to go with three ground balls. Faceoff man John Grundy (Gainesville, VA/Battlefield) again was stellar, winning 19 of 30 face-offs, chalking up a game-high nine ground balls.

                Junior defenseman Ryan Blackwell (Brambleton, VA/Briar Woods) had three caused turnovers, Baden James (Alexandria, VA/Edison) added three ground balls and first-year keeper Cam Davis (Gibsonville, NC/Western Alamance) had a career-high 19 saves and five ground balls. Randolph won the face-off win battle 19-12, but was hammered with eight penalties for seven minutes of short-handed time.

                Moran had a game-best five goals and two assists for the Crusaders, while Austen Lein added two goals and four assists. Ryan Natusch had two goals and three assists, and Tylere Fritts chalked up two goals and an assist. SU outshot the WildCats 54-30 and was successful on four of its eight man-up opportunities.

                Randolph will look to get back in the win column on Thursday evening at 6 p.m. as Franciscan University (OH) comes to WildCat Stadium for a non-conference tussle.

--RANDOLPH--