SWARTHMORE, Pa. - The fifth-ranked Dickinson men's lacrosse team dug an early 6-1 hole on Saturday afternoon and spent all day playing catch-up ultimately coming out on the wrong side of a 12-11 Centennial Conference loss to the 11th-ranked Swarthmore College Garnet at Clothier Field.

Dickinson had some early chances to open the scoring but Colin Williams hit the post and both James Isaacson and Owen Porter went wide of Drew Tyson's net. That gave the home side a chance to get on track as Clay Almgren, Ryan Kim and Von Mabbs each besting Patrick Scarborough for a 3-0 lead with 5:30 to play in the first. Off the ensuing faceoff win for John McKee, the ball found its way to Ethan Gess who setup Porter for the strike cutting it down to 3-1. The Devils continued to try and put some pressure on Tyson, but he was up to the task making three stops against Sam Campbell, Matt Thurston and Williams to keep the gap at 3-1. However, the Garnet would add one more with just two-ticks left thanks to Michael Hardiman making it 4-1 through 15 minutes. 

Swarthmore posted another tally just 1:10 into the second thanks to Jackson Brosgol. Following three chances for DC that yielded no results, the home side racked up four more shots with one finding the mark extending the margin to 6-1 with about five minutes gone. The Devils then appeared to sort things out as Cullen Mulhern setup Thurston for a strike, before turnovers forced by both Jack Deady and Ethan Ackerman resulted in markers from Sascha Gannon (Campbell assist) and Porter (Charlie Baughan assist) cutting the deficit down to just 6-4 with 7:50 left. The two sides traded the next four shots with neither side hitting the target, which set the stage for Thurston to rip the back of the net making it 6-5. Unfortunately, Hardiman notched one more for the Garnet inside the final 30-seconds to hold a two-goal edge at the break (7-5). 

An early third quarter stop by DC keeper Patrick Scarborough on Brosgol, resulted in shots from Campbell and Gess that went wide before Gess bagged his first of the season to pull back within one 7-6. Another save recorded by Scarborough on Henry Kolyer led to opportunities for Skyler Schluter and Thurston that each rang the post prior to Mulhern being stopped by Tyson. However, the Red and White kept chipping away until Mulhern finally found Williams for the equalizer (7-7) with 9:14 gone. Four of the final six shots of the frame belonged to the home side sending the game to the fourth in a deadlock.

It took just eight seconds into the final quarter for the Garnet to grab the lead, but off the ensuing faceoff win by McKee led to Tyson shutting down Thurston fortunately Gannon got to the loose ball and stuck it back in the net. Ryder Maston reclaimed the lead for the hosts, before the Red and White tallied five consecutive shots with Isaacson finding Porter to knot things at 9-9. Dickinson continued to have to play catchup though as Maston made it 10-9, but two minutes later the game was locked again this time thanks to Porter. The visitors had the opportunity to grab the lead with Campbell, Porter and Williams going wide while Mulhern was shutdown by Tyson. That allowed Carter Strauch to make it 11-10, but less than a minute later Capp Reynolds jarred the rock free from Jack McHenry giving Gannon the chance to level the score at 11-11 with 2:13 to go. Unfortunately, for Dickinson it would be the Garnet who got the last laugh as Brosgol scored with just 12-seconds left. McKee won the following faceoff which gave Thurston one last look, unfortunately, the defense broke up the shot ending the game.

Red Devil Leaders
Goals - Porter (4), Gannon (3), Thurston (2)
Assists - Mulhern (2)
Groundballs - McKee (10), Evan Karetsos (4)
Faceoffs - McKee (15-26), Ben Trucksess (0-1)
Saves - Scarborough (7)

Garnet Leaders
Goals - Hardiman (3)
Assists - Maston and Strauch (3)
Groundballs - McHenry (6)
Faceoffs - Martinez (7-13), McHenry (5-14)
Saves - Tyson (14)

Next on the Turf
Dickinson (11-2, 4-1 Centennial) returns to Biddle Field on Wednesday night at 7pm when they welcome local rival and 15th-ranked Gettysburg College to Carlisle.  Read Full Article