WORCESTER, Mass. - The Holy Cross men's lacrosse team fell to Sacred Heart, 15-11, Saturday afternoon at Kuzniewski Field.

With the win, Sacred Heart improves to 3-0 on the season, while Holy Cross moves to 2-2.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Holy Cross got off to a hot start, netting five of the first six goals of the contest, with sophomore Owen Tunney, freshman Aedan Cassidy, and juniors Sam McDonald, Damien Ramondo and Ryan Botek each finding the back of the net.
• Sacred Heart netted four goals over the remaining two minutes of the first quarter and first three minutes of the second quarter to even things out at 5-5.
• Ramondo, Tunney, and junior Jon-Luke Duley scored a goal each - and Sacred Heart scored two - before the end of the second quarter to bring the score to 8-7 going into the halftime break.
• Sophomore Andrew Ottomanelli picked up his first goal of the contest to open the third quarter, but a three-goal run by the Pioneers would give them their first lead of the game at 10-9.
• Junior Jude Lynch beat the buzzer in the closing seconds of the third quarter to tie things up again going into the final frame of regulation, but a four-goal run by Sacred Heart put them up 14-10 with just over eight minutes to play.
• Tunney completed his hat trick with 4:46 to go, but it would prove to be the final goal of the game for Holy Cross. The Pioneers would score again with 3:08 remaining to bring the score to its final of 15-11.

BEYOND THE BOX:

• Senior JR Long recorded seven saves in the contest.
• Seniors Michael Rincon and Julian Jenkins led both sides with three caused turnovers each.
• Freshman Shane McDonnell led both sides with 17 faceoff wins, finishing the contest with a .629 win percentage, and tied for the game-lead with seven ground ball pickups.

UP NEXT:

• Holy Cross will continue its homestand next weekend when they welcome Le Moyne to Kuzniewski Field on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 1 p.m.

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