GRANTHAM, Pa. (Feb. 28) – The Saint Vincent men's lacrosse team battled toe-to-toe for 60 minutes Saturday afternoon, but a third-quarter swing proved decisive in a 9-7 setback at Messiah University.
 
 With the result, the Bearcats moved to 2-2 overall.
 
Saint Vincent opened the scoring early, as Owen Rogers finished a Calvin Rose feed at the 12:50 mark of the first quarter. Messiah answered with back-to-back goals—including a man-up tally with 2:06 left—before Tony Ferreira tied the game at 2-2 late in the opening period off an assist from Cam Herring.
 
The Bearcats continued to trade punches in the second quarter. Rogers struck again early in the period, this time off a Jonathan Nagy assist, and Rose added an unassisted goal to help Saint Vincent keep pace. After the teams were tied 5-5 following Rogers' third goal of the afternoon, Messiah closed the half with a goal at the 4:38 mark to take a 6-5 lead into the break.
 
Neal Ritchie evened the score at 6-6 early in the third quarter, but Messiah responded with two straight goals to build an 8-6 advantage heading to the fourth.
 
Saint Vincent made one final push when Mason Krabbe scored unassisted just 10 seconds into the final frame to cut the deficit to one, but Messiah answered at 8:26 to reestablish a two-goal cushion and held on from there.
 
Rogers led the Bearcats with three goals, while Rose (1G, 1A), Ferreira, Ritchie, and Krabbe also found the back of the net. In goal, Garrett Ritts turned in a strong effort with 15 saves across 60 minutes.
 
As a team, Saint Vincent finished with 36 shots and 19 shots on goal, while Messiah recorded 49 shots and 24 shots on goal. Messiah held the edge in ground balls (38-28) and faceoffs (12-8), while the Bearcats went 0-for-3 on extra-man chances.

Saint Vincent returns to action on Wednesday, March 4 with a 7 p.m. road matchup at the University of Mount Union in Alliance, Ohio.