Bison unable to complete comeback, fall 17-15 to Mount St. Joseph

Steve Janik, Assistant Sports Information Director

BETHANY, W.Va. (Mar. 18) - The Bethany College men's lacrosse team dropped their Ohio River Lacrosse Conference (ORLC) opener 17-15 to Mount St. Joseph on Saturday at Bison Stadium.

With the loss, the Green and White fall to 3-3 overall (0-1 ORLC), while the Lions improve to 1-5 this season (1-0 ORLC).

The Bison were led by five goals from Will Gatling (Baltimore, Md./Northwestern), while Jake Holland (Canton, Ohio/Jackson) had four goals and three assists. Anthony Helias (Erie, Pa./McDowell) and Tyler Peck (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler) each added three scores with Helias also tallying two assists.

The Bison had a late surge after trailing 12-8 heading into the final quarter, but were unable to complete the comeback. The Lions opened the fourth with three-straight goals down to the 10:22 mark to take a 15-8 lead, before Bethany scored seven goals in the final 10 minutes. Peck and Gatling scored on simultaneous possessions before MSJ added another score.

Bethany went on to score four goals in less than a minute to make the score 16-14 with 3:53 remaining in the game. The Lions added another goal to break the momentum; however, Holland added his fourth goal of the day with just over a minute to play to draw back within two at 17-15. Unfortunately, the Bison ran out of time and fell short at the final horn.

Bethany held a 4-2 lead after the opening period with Peck netting two of his three goals to open the game. At the end of the quarter, the visitors scored a man-up goal to begin a run of eight consecutive goals from then throughout the second.

Mount St. Joseph entered the break with the 9-5 lead. Kevin McLanahan scored the first three goals of the game for MSJ including goals to end and begin the first and second quarters.

Bethany hosts North Central (Illinois) for a non-conference match on Tuesday, March 21 at 5 p.m.