LATROBE, Pa. (April 23) - The Saint Vincent men's lacrosse team never trailed in a 13-9 victory over rival Thiel College at Chuck Noll Field in Ohio River Lacrosse Conference action. 

The victory improved SVC to 4-1 in ORLC play and 6-7 overall. The loss was the first in conference play for Thiel, who falls to 5-1 in league action and 10-3 overall. 

Saint Vincent started strong, taking a 2-0 advantage after the first quarter off scores from Zach Novelli and Frank Casile. 

The Bearcats continued the early momentum, scoring the first five goals of the second quarter, pushing their advantage to 7-0 with 5:57 left in the half. Five different Bearcats scored during the run, as Alex Mueser tallied a man-up score to make it 3-0. Shortly thereafter, Ben Price added an unassisted goal and then Casile and Jon Succop tacked on a man-up goal each. Jeremy Kennedy scored off a pass from Hunter Sharp, helping SVC take the 7-0 lead. 

After a slow start offensively, the visiting Tomcats would counter back with a 3-1 run to close the half, cutting the SVC advantage to 8-3 after 30 minutes of play. Casile scored off a pass from Sharp to tally the Bearcats final first half goal. 

Thiel, who entered unbeaten in conference play, scored the initial five goals of the third quarter to tie the contest at 8-8 at the 5:57 mark. Mueser helped SVC regain the lead on a man-up goal with 20 seconds left in the third. 

Saint Vincent scored the first four goals of the fourth to effectively put the game away. Sharp scored at the 11:52 mark before Price added back-to-back goals a couple of minutes later, making it 12-9 Bearcats at the 9:04 mark. 

Anthony Hogeback found the back of the net with 4:43 left, scoring a man-up goal off a pass from Price. Thiel would score the game's final goal with 2:20 to play but could not get closer. 

A pair of freshman helped lead the SVC offense on the afternoon, as Price totaled five points, which included three goals and two assists. Casile added four points (three goals, one assist) in the victory. Sharp racked up four points (one goal, three assists) and Hogeback added three points, bringing him to 98 points for his career.

John Wohlin won 16-of-21 face-offs and picked up nine ground balls, while Connor McMillen earned the win in goal with five saves. 

Saint Vincent travels to Bethany College for an ORLC match on Thursday, April 27. Start time is set for 5 p.m.