Arlington, Va. – Even with a three-goal showing from junior Matt Justice (Elkrdige, Md.), the Marymount men's lacrosse team could not solve Gwynedd Mercy on Wednesday afternoon.  The Saints dropped an 11-7 decision to the Griffins and fall to 0-2 on the season with the loss.

As the very quiet first quarter winded down, the Saints broke the scoreless stalemate at the 1:13 mark.  Senior Garrett Nealon (Alexandria, Va.) threaded a near perfect pass to sophomore Kellan McCarthy (Purcellville, Va.), who sealed the deal with his second goal of the season.  The Griffins responded in kind in the closing ticks, punching in the equalizer with just 11 seconds left on the clock.

Opening the second quarter in a 1-1 deadlock, the Saints were in desperate search of momentum.  Nathaniel Valenti (Dover, Del.) swiped the opening faceoff and saw his offense go to work – with Justice eventually finding some room and unloading a dart to put the team up 2-1.

Unfortunately, GMC never backed down.  The host tacked on two more goals, and despite several attempts from the Saints late in the half, Marymount found itself trailing 3-2 entering the third.

Coming out of the break, the Griffins set the tempo.  GMC opened the scoring less than a minute into the third quarter and eventually rolled out to a 7-2 edge by the 6:06 mark.

Looking to cut into the five-goal deficit, Brian Robbins (Haddonfield, N.J.) forced a turnover after the Griffins won the ensuing faceoff.  Back in control, Marymount saw junior Mike Stidham (LaPlata, Md.) find Justice for his second strike of the day with 4:15 on the clock.

Not even 30 seconds later, the Saints capitalized on a GMC penalty.  Nealon again showed off his veteran field vision with a sharp pass to senior Nico Burns (Arlington, Va.), who blistered the back of the net to cut the deficit to three, 7-4.

Hoping to carry their momentum into the fourth quarter, the Saints opened things up on the offensive end.  Although the Griffins marched down the field after swiping the faceoff, it was Marymount netminder Mike Kempel (Millington, Md.) who caused the turnover, and Jacob Milne (Brookline, Mass.) who regained possession for the Saints.  Nealon took his turn at the cage, unleashing a missile for his first score of the day – thanks to a pretty pass from Justice.

With the GMC lead cut to two, 7-5, Marymount looked to inch closer.  The Saints drove into Griffins' territory, but an untimely turnover saw the host retake control and keep it.  Gwynedd Mercy punched in three unanswered goals over the next two minutes to up the advantage to 10-5 with 10:11 left to play.

Faced with a five-goal deficit yet again, the Saints continued to test the GMC armor.  Marymount peppered the Griffins' defense with three shots until finally the host seemed to buckle – earning a pair of penalties to give the Saints a two-man advantage.  Freshman Nathan Beard (Dauphin, Pa.) rifled in his first goal off a feed from Justice to complete the assault and pull within four, 10-6, with 6:47 remaining in the contest.

Marymount unleashed another rapid series of shots in its next possession, with Justice eventually sniping his third goal of the afternoon off a pass from McCarthy at the 4:10 mark. 

Unfortunately, that was as close as the Saints could get.  With time on their side, the Griffins swiped one more goal and then simply ran out the clock to seal the victory, 11-7.

Marymount returns to action on Saturday for a nonconference bout with Albright at Long Bridge Park.  Game time is slated for 4:00 p.m.