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LATROBE, Pa. (March 4) - After holding a lead for the majority of the contest, the Saint Vincent men's lacrosse team was held scoreless in the fourth quarter in a 14-11 season-opening loss to Mount Union on the SVC Turf.

The two squads were tied 3-3 after the first quarter of action. After allowing the Purple Raiders to score the initial goal of the match, SVC answered back with goals from Jeremy Kennedy and Alex Mueser to take a 2-1 advantage. Assists on the goals came from Tim Oxenreiter and Brendon Masten, respectively.

The Purple Raiders regained the lead at 3-2 with back-to-back goals before Hunter Sharp scored on a man-up goal for SVC, off another assist from Oxenreiter.

SVC gained the lead back in the second quarter with two more goals, the first coming from Kennedy off an assist from Oxenreiter. The Bearcats pushed the lead to 5-3 when Sharp scored an unassisted goal with 7:32 left in the quarter. Later in the quarter, Mount Union tied the contest at 6-6 with back-to-back goals within 16 seconds of each other. Kennedy rounded out the scoring in the first half with his third goal, giving SVC a 7-6 edge at half.

Saint Vincent continued to hold the lead for the entire third quarter. The Bearcats got a goal each from Masten, Anthony Hogeback, Kennedy and Mueser in the quarter. The Mueser goal made it 11-9 SVC as the contest headed to the fourth and final quarter of the contest.

Mount Union made their run in the fourth to take the match, outscoring SVC by a 5-0 margin for the victory.

Kennedy led all scorers with four goals in the contest. Sharp and Mueser each added two. Oxenreiter tallied six assists for SVC. Michael Grus had six ground ball pickups for the defense. Senior Greg Gonzalez made 13 saves in net for SVC. Chris Daley led Mount Union with three scores.

The win improves Mount Union to 2-1 on the season while SVC sits at 0-1. The Bearcats host Concordia University Chicago on Wednesday, March 9. Start time is slated for 4 p.m.