ST. DAIVDS, Pa.– For the first 12 minutes, everything went well. In a game against the long-time rival Misericordia University Cougars, Eastern University Men's Lacrosse jumped out to a 5-0 lead. The Eagles still led 6-2 when Avery Porter finished a feed from Nicholas Fanelli with five minutes left in the first half. The visiting Cougars scored off the ensuing faceoff and rode momentum to an 11-7 win. Nick Litzenberger scored three times and Connor Bachman added a pair of goals. Ethan Myers made 21 saves in defeat.

Bachman opened the scoring with two goals in the first five minutes. Litzenberger scored on another drive against a short-stick defender a little more than a minute after Bachman's second tally. Nicholas Fanelli scored on a cut down the left alley for a 4-0 lead and Litzenberger touched home a feed from Porter for the 5-0 edge.

The Cougars got one goal in the first half and tied the score at 6-6 on a goal in the waning seconds of the second period. The Eagles hit the underside of the crossbar twice early in the third quarter. Misericordia built a 9-6 lead 

Through the first two games, the Eagles controlled the faceoff X. Today, the visiting Cougars had the better of it with nine wins on 13 draws through the first half.The Eagles finally ended the drought on a Litzenberger's third of the day, but several great fourth-quarter chances to cut the Misericordia lead to 9-8 were turned away by a tight Misericordia defense and their goalie Chris Straub. Porter also hit a post in the first four minutes. 

The Cougars scored twice in a minute to stretch the game to a four-goal lead. The Eagles push to catch up was delayed by acouple late penalties. Eastern served 10 minutes of penalties in a game that had 17 total penalties. 

"We have a choice," Head Coach Wallace told his team after the game. "We have to grow closer this next week and figure this out together. It is only going to work if we are all in. We are not going to solve this by being halfway in. We cannot make excuses or point fingers. Every player and coach needs to trust each other and do everything in his power to get better and to make this team better."

Eastern will be in Clearwater for spring break this coming week. The Eagles will play RPI next Saturday.