LANGHORNE, Pa. – The Cairn University men's lacrosse team lost, 8-4 against non-conference opponent Purchase College in the grand opening of the G. Patrick Stillman Athletic Complex on Sunday afternoon.
Cairn (0-3) gathered the early momentum, scoring the first career goal in the new complex after freshman
Allen Gregg (Coatesville, PA / Coatesville) flipped it to junior
Harrison Clark (Cape May, NJ / Lower Cape May Regional) who scored to give Cairn a 1-0 lead.
The Highlanders tacked on a second goal just six minutes later when sophomore
Jonathan Balsamo (Manorville, NY / Eastport South Manor) darted past the Panther defense and found the cage to give Cairn a 2-0 lead, a lead it took into the second period. Purchase (4-1) outscored the Highlanders 3-1 in the second frame and both teams were knotted up at three a-piece at intermission. Purchase had the first two goals of the third quarter to take a 5-3 lead, before Balsamo found the back of the cage again for his second goal to cut the deficit to one (5-4), before the Panthers scored again to take a 6-4 lead into the final period. The Highlanders peppered the Panther cage with eight shots in the final frame, but could not find the back of the cage as Purchase held on for the 8-4 victory.
Purchase held the edge in shots (44-22) and ground balls (47-35), while holding a slight advantage in the turnover department (33-27). The Panthers converted two of their seven man-up opportunities, while Cairn converted one of five man-up chances. Balsamo paced the Highlanders offensively with two goals and an assist, while Clark and sophomore
Charles Cotton (Newburgh, NY / Newburgh Free Academy) registered the other two Cairn tallies. Sophomore
Collin Chase (Zionsville, IN / Zionsville) led the Highlander defense, tying a game-high with six caused turnovers, while freshman
Devin Murphy (Walden, NY / Valley Central) scooped up a team-high five ground balls. Freshman goalkeeper
Nico Cione (Yardley, PA / Pennsbury) manned the cage for the Highlanders, notching a game-high 20 saves to the tune of a 71.4% save percentage in a complete game effort.
The Highlanders will be back in action on Wednesday, March 23 when they are back in action at home in a non-conference bout with Alvernia University inside the Stillman Complex at 4 p.m.
