LATROBE, Pa. -- A slow start to Saturday evening's contest at Saint Vincent College was too much for the Allegheny College men's lacrosse team to overcome in a 14-6 setback against the Bearcats at UPMC Field.

The Bearcats (6-4, 4-0 PAC) opened Saturday's Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) matchup with nine unanswered goals while outscoring the Gators (3-5, 1-1 PAC) 7-0 in the first quarter. Over the remaining 45 minutes of action, the two sides played a much more competitive game, with the hosts narrowly outpacing the Gators, 7-6.

Down by nine early in the second quarter, Allegheny attempted to spark a comeback. The Gators scored thrice in less than two minutes with goals from freshman midfielder Gabe Shoemaker (Brunswick, Maine/Brunswick), senior attacker JP Rakis (Kensington, Md./Walter Johnson), and senior midfielder Griffin Cates (Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey). Later in the period, first-year attackman Nathan Wheeler (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) potted a man-up marker to bring the Gators within five of the Bearcats at 9-4. Alas, the Saint Vincent defense held Allegheny without a goal for nearly 15 minutes until defenseman Liam Kruck (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin) added a man-up tally at the 4:08 mark in the third quarter.

Inside the Box Score

• Allegheny finished with 23 total shot attempts and converted six of its 11 shots on goal into scores.
• Saint Vincent won the battle at the faceoff dot, 18-to-6, and gathered more ground balls, 39-to-23.
• Both teams scored two extra-man goals, as the Gators finished 2-for-8 and Saint Vincent was 2-for-3.
• Six players earned a point for Allegheny, led by Rakis with two goals and one assist.
• Shoemaker, Kruck, Cates, and Wheeler each scored one goal.
• Long-stick midfielder Jason Eason (Westlake, Ohio/Westlake) caused two turnovers and was second on the team with five ground balls.
• In goal, Garin Stearns (Hudson, Ohio/Revere) made 14 saves and picked up six ground balls.
• Saint Vincent's offense was led by Connor Smith (4g-1a) and Jonathan Nagy (3g-1a).
• SVC faceoff specialist Mason Krabbe won 17-of-22 draws and recorded a game-high 12 ground balls.

News and Notes

• Allegheny is now 2-4 all-time against Saint Vincent and 1-1 against the Bearcats in Latrobe.
• Rakis has scored at least one goal in seven of eight games this spring.
• Kruck netted his first goal of the year and second of his career with a long pole.
• Eason tied a single-game career-high with five ground balls.
• Stearns became the first Gator goalie to surpass 500 career saves and now has 513 in 42 career starts.

Up Next
The Gators will travel to Grove City College to face the Wolverines on Wednesday, April 1, at 6 p.m.