ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - In another defensive battle at Olson Field on Saturday, Eastern Men's Lacrosse came up short in a 10-8 loss to Scranton. Eastern led 5-3 at halftime, but the Royals (4-3) outscored the Eagles 7-3 in the second half to secure the victory. First-year attackman Gavin Stark scored a pair of goals, while Nicholas Fanelli finished with a goal and three assists. Nick Litzenberger finished with a goal and two assists, while Ethan Myers played a strong game in goal with 19 saves.

Scranton's Matt Solleder opened the scoring four-and-a-half minutes into the contest, but the Eagles answered with three straight goals to take a 3-1 lead. Nicholas Fanelli found first-year midfielder Jason Poole in front of the net, and the Media, Pa. product fired a laser into the lower right corner of the net to tie the contest at 1-1. It was the second collegiate goal for Poole.

Stark scored his first goal of the day with under seven minutes to play in the first quarter. On a delayed penalty, Fanelli found a cutting Stark in front of the net, and the Baltimore, Md. native found twine to give Eastern a 2-1 advantage. Stark scored his second goal on an Eastern man-up opportunity just 46 seconds later off a strong feed from Litzenberger. The Royals responded with goals from Solleder and Christopher Crapanzano to tie the contest at 3-3 at the first quarter break.

After a tightly contested second quarter, Eastern scored twice in the final three minutes to take a 5-3 lead into the halftime break. Jake Gottschalk scored his second goal of the season on a bounce shot that sailed over Scranton goalkeeper Declan Allen, before Fanelli scored on a tremendous individual effort, racing from behind the net and firing the ball into the top right corner of the net.

The Royals made their halftime adjustments and the defense tightened up in the final two quarters. After Scranton was able to tie the contest at 5-5, Litzenberger scored his lone goal of the day on another remarkable individual effort, shaking off his defender and firing a shot into the back of the net while falling down, to give the Eagles a 6-5 lead.

Scranton took control of the contest from there, scoring five straight goals to turn their one-goal deficit into a three-goal advantage. Connor Bachman and Dan Divita each tallied late in the period, but the Royals' five-goal run proved to be the difference.

Patrick McClain dominated in the face-off circle, winning 15-of-21 face-offs along with leading the Eagles with eight ground balls. Jack Bradley, Dominic Marangoni, and Nicholas Ciampaglio each caused a pair of turnovers, while Litzenberger led the offense with 12 shots. Eastern's man-down unit continued its strong recent stretch of games, not allowing a goal in seven Scranton man-up chances. 

Eastern will be back in action on Wednesday, March 22 when they travel to Stockton to take on the Ospreys. The contest is scheduled to being at 7:00 pm.