BEREA, Ohio -- It was a snowy start to the Allegheny men's lacrosse program, which led to a low-scoring affair in the inaugural game, as the Gators were edged at Baldwin Wallace, 9-7, on Wednesday, Feb. 26.

A heavy snow started almost an hour before the game and never stopped as the two teams dealt with a snow-covered turf surface.

The Gators got off to a quick start as Paul Curbelo (Livermore, Calif./Granada) won the opening faceoff and Patrick Hogan (London, Ontario/St. Andre Bessett) opened the scoring with a man-up goal 1:57 into play. Allegheny held a 2-1 lead after one quarter after David Kraus (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) broke a 1-1 tie at the 3:01-mark off an assist from Zackery Devers (Kapolei, Hawaii/Kapolei). The only two goals of the second quarter were by the Yellow Jackets as both came within the final 2:10 of the half and the Gators trailed, 3-2, at intermission. The field was covered in snow already, but by that point a thick layer covered the entire playing surface. The BWU staff cleared the lines and the two teams played on for the final 30:00.

Kraus needed 2:46 in the third to knot the game back up, 3-3, with his second goal of the evening. A pair of quick tallies by the home team saw the Gators fall behind, 5-3, but Allegheny again rallied to force a deadlock as Nick Jordan (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan) capitalized on a pass from Kraus, 5-4, and then Jordan assisted on Cole Simonsen's (Palm Harbor, Fla./East Lake) equalizer at the 4:15-mark of the quarter. BW was able to add another score as time expired in the quarter to hold a 6-5 lead after 45 minutes.

A quick start to the fourth saw the deficit swell to 9-5 by the time 3:00 had elapsed in the period. Hogan posted the next two markers in the game to record the first hat trick in program history with unassisted goals at 7:30 and 5:58.

David Kratzenberg (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) started in goal and made six saves in 20:36, while allowing just one goal. Eric Mirkovich (York, Pa./York Central) and Ryan Therkorn (Falls Church, Va./George C. Marshall) split the rest of the time, allowing four goals apiece, while Therkorn added three saves, but suffered the loss.

Hogan's seven shots were a game-high, while four Gators scooped up five ground balls apiece: Kraus, Colin Deubell (Buffalo, N.Y./West Seneca West), Tim Wallis (Shady Side, Md./Southern) and Dillon D'Amato (Tolland, Conn./Tolland). Wallace also had a game best with five caused turnovers.

The Gators will continue their inaugural slate on the road when they travel back to Ohio for a 1 p.m. game at Heidelberg on Saturday, Feb. 29.