Newport News, Va. – Despite its brief lead early in the contest, the Marymount men's lacrosse team could not contain Christopher Newport on Saturday afternoon, dropping the CAC bout, 17-6.  The Saints slip to 3-5 on the season and 0-2 in league play with the loss.

Marymount struck fast to swipe the first goal as Garrett Nealon fired a quick dart to Kellan McCarthy for the 1-0 advantage with barely a minute gone.  CNU met the Saints challenge and upped the ante, netting three unanswered goals to close the first quarter with the 3-1 lead.

The second stanza opened with an impressive defensive effort from the Saints.  Marymount endured an absolute onslaught by the Captains, with Mike Kempel snagging four saves in an eight-shot assault spanning almost five minutes.  The Saints cleared the ball successfully following the lengthy flurry, but an unfortunate penalty saw the host return to Marymount territory and extend its lead to 4-1.

The Saints answered with their second goal at the 6:35 mark – an unassisted blast from Brent Sulhoff.  CNU responded less than a minute later with another strike, extending the advantage to 5-2 with 5:47 left to play.

The teams traded goals to close out the first half, with the Captains collecting two to the Saints one.  Nate Beard sought out Sulhoff after a Saints clear, and hit the rookie in stride for his second tally of the afternoon – bringing the margin to 7-3 heading into the break.

Despite a quick strike from CNU to open the second half, Marymount countered with back-to-back scores to remain relevant.  Nealon collected his team-leading 12th assist as he found Sulhoff isolated one-on-one on the near side of the field – helping the rookie complete his first career hat trick.  Tyler DaSilva followed with a quick strike off the ensuing faceoff to cut the deficit to 8-5.

Six unanswered goals from the Captains saw the third quarter bleed into the fourth.  Eventually Marymount snapped the CNU streak as Michael Mene tucked some high heat just beneath the crossbar – whittling the gap to eight, 14-6, with 6:02 on the clock.  Unfortunately, the Saints scoring would be halted there.

Christopher Newport tacked on another three goals before time expired, extending the final margin to 17-6.

Marymount held a slim 12-11 advantage in faceoffs, but CNU proved dominant in most other facets to seal the win.  DaSilva – along with Sam Dupont, Austin Miller, and Garrett Satterwhite – collected three groundballs in the effort, while Kempel led all Saints with four.  

The Saints return to action on Wednesday when the squad heads to York (Pa.) for a 4 p.m. showdown with the Spartans.