TAMPA, Fla. – Another intense finish for the Marymount (Va.) University men's lacrosse team on Thursday afternoon, as it concluded a perfect 2-0 week in Florida for spring break with a 12-11 overtime victory in a non-conference battle against DeSales University. 

It was a second-half run by the Saints that made the contest interesting down the stretch, as they found themselves trailing 7-3 with 13:30 remaining in the third quarter. Three-straight goals cut that deficit to just one over an 11-minute stretch.  Sophomore Nathan Beard caught a dish from freshman Matthew Ebert to start the run while seniors Michael Stidham and Maxwell Johnson found the back of the net on unassisted finishes to move the score to 7-6. 

The Bulldogs pushed their lead back out to two by the end of the quarter, but the fourth quarter would start out solely in Marymount's favor, hitting a 5-1 stretch to takeover the advantage, 11-9 with 49 seconds remaining in regulation. Freshman Bryan Mcmanus cashed in on two of the goals, while sophomore Daniel Bothwell, senior Matt Justice and Ebert put in one apiece. 

DeSales didn't go away though, scoring on two man-up opportunities in the closing 25 seconds to send the game to overtime. 

Riding a non-releasable penalty into overtime, the Saints found themselves at a disadvantage. With DeSales taking the restart, senior Mike Kempel came up big for Marymount in the net, collecting his seventh and most important save of the game on the Bulldog man-up opportunity. Sending the ball the other way, the Saints successfully cleared the ball into their offensive third before calling a timeout to draw up the game-winning play. 

On the restart on the left side of the field, Johnson went to work. Quickly curling around the backside of the net, the senior made a tight turn on the right edge of the crease to fire home a high left finish for the game-winning man-down goal. 

Johnson finished with a game-high four points off two goals and two assists, while Mcmanus registered his third game this season with at least three goals, putting away a hat trick. 

The men return back to Arlington for a short stay before they head on the road to Frostburg State University on Saturday, March 12 for a Capital Athletic Conference tilt. First faceoff is set for 4 p.m.