Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Lacrosse team suffered its second straight loss on Wednesday following a hard fought 13-11 defeat to visiting Johnson and Wales. Four Knights scored a pair of goals in the game with junior Dylan De Meo (Franklin Square, N.Y.) leading the way with six points.
 
Nicholas Graziano (Franklin Square, N.Y.) and De Meo got the Knights off to a good start on Wednesday with each scoring goals inside the first eight minutes of action. Graziano scored his ninth of the season just over a minute into the game and De Meo followed at the 7:40 mark to push the Knights in front 2-0.
 
Johnson and Wales responded with the final three goals of the first period and following a Max Stone tally with 38 seconds left in the opening period that gave them a 3-2 lead, the Wildcats would not trail again in the contest.
 
The visitors expanded their lead to 5-2 on a Thomas Lyons goal early in the second quarter and after a  Michael Gallucci (Northport, N.Y.) man-up tally, the Knights saw Johnson and Wales scored twice 28 seconds apart midway through the quarter to take a 7-4 lead into halftime.
 
The Wildcats and Knights each recorded 18 shots before halftime, with the visitors holding a slim 12-11 edge in shots on goal. The Knights held an 18-16 edge in groundballs after 30 minutes of action and scored on the only extra man opportunity of the first half.
 
Mount Saint Mary climbed back to within a goal coming out of the intermission on back-to-back tallies from Danny Kugler (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) and Kenneth Atkins (Wallkill, N.Y.), but saw the Wildcats score two of the final three goals of the period to expand the lead back to 9-6 with 15 minutes left to play.
 
The Knights finally pulled even early in the fourth quarter following goals from Kugler and Tristan Earle (Millrift, Pa.) that tied the score at 9-9, but an Erik Russo goal for the visitors pushed the lead back to 10-9 with 8:52 left in regulation.
 
Kenneth Gallagher (Northport, N.Y.) brought the Knights even again at the 3:08 mark of the fourth quarter with his seventh goal of the season, but Johnson and Wales responded with goals from Ben Farrell and Russo nine seconds part to give the Wildcats the lead for good in the game. De Meo brought the Knights back to within a goal in the final minute, but Farrell sealed the win with a goal with 27 seconds left to play.
 
De Meo, Gallagher, Graziano and Kugler all finished the game with two goals, with De Meo assisting on four tallies and Kugler helping on two others. Earle finished the game with a goal and an assist for the Knights.
 
Michael Capetola (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) picked up a team-high five groundballs with Nicholas Boffoli (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) and Graziano each finishing with a pair of caused turnovers. Joseph Timmons (Staten Island, N.Y.) won five face-offs for the Knights and freshman Marco Spagnuolo (Staten Island, N.Y.) won seven draws for the Mount.
 
The Wildcats were led by four goals and two assists from Russo with Stone and Farrell adding three goals apiece. Hunter Guzzo finished the day with 16 face-off wins and six groundballs for Johnson and Wales.
 
Junior Christopher Doerr (Pleasantville, N.Y.) suffered the loss in goal, making 10 saves for the Mount and collecting two groundballs. Bradley Morris earned the win for Johnson and Wales and closed a strong day with 16 saves, three caused turnovers and six groundballs.
 
Mount Saint Mary outshot Johnson and Wales in the game 46-37 overall and 27-23 in shots on goal. The Wildcats held a slim 32-31 edge in groundballs, while the Knights went 14-for-17 in clearing chances and 2-for-3 with the man advantage.
 
Wednesday's loss drops Mount Saint Mary to 2-4 overall on the season. The Knights return to conference play on Saturday when they welcome St. Joseph's-L.I. to Newburgh. Face-off with the Golden Eagles is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.