Box Score The Misericordia University men's lacrosse team scored three straight goals to open the restart but couldn't complete the comeback, falling 11-7 to King's College in a Freedom Conference game that spanned over two days due to a lightning delay.
Nick Santillo led the
Cougars with two goals and an assist while JR Lauri added one goal and two assists.
Mike O'Brien posted three goals and two assists to lead King's while Pat Bonnot also added three goals. Brendan McCrudden earned the win in goal for the Monarchs, posting nine saves.
In a game that started on Wednesday evening, the Cougars jumped out to a quick start in the first period, scoring three quick goals on one of the nation's top defensive teams.
Nick Santillo scooped up a loose ball a whipped a low shot to get MU on the board with 12:00 to go. Santillo made a nice pass from the top of the circle to Kyle Calabro who converted in front of the net to make it 2-0 just 90 seconds later.
Less than a minute later, Mason Quickel raced down the right side and found Sean McGuigan who put the Cougars ahead 3-0 with 9:23 to play.
King's answered with three straight goals.
O'Brien scored from the right wing with 7:28 left in the period and found Max Malloy for a man-up goal just over a minute later. The Monarchs' Liam Kelly tied the score at 3-3 with a goal off the ensuing face-off.
J.R. Lauri put the Cougars back in front when he intercepted a King's clearing attempt and scored to make it 4-3 with 4:01 left.
Pat Bonnot drew King's even at 2:58 and O'Brien scored off a nice pass from A.J. Bungert to give the Monarchs a 5-4 lead just 14 seconds later.
After a defensive struggle throughout much of the second period, Billy McCullough raced down field off a Monarchs' clear and scored to give King's a 6-4 lead with 3:13 remaining in the stanza. Bonnot added another goal with 1:53 to go to send the Monarchs into halftime leading 7-4.
O'Brien and Malloy both scored unassisted goals in the third period before play was halted due to lightning with 8:52 remaining in the period. The two teams took shelter for just over an hour before the decision was made to resume play on Thursday.
Just as in the beginning of the game, the Cougars opened the restart with three quick goals to cut the Monarch lead to 9-7.
Lauri found a cutting Adam Lenhard for a goal just 52 seconds into the restart to cut the deficit to 9-5, and Santillo scored off a Calabro pass just a few minutes later to make it a 9-6 game.
Lauri notched his second assist of the game when Andrew Bath was able to get just enough of his pocket on a Lauri pass from behind the net to deflect the ball past McCrudden and cut King's lead to just two goals with 11:02 remaining in the fourth.
That would be as close as the Cougars would come, as Bonnot and Kieran McMahon each scored for King's to close the scoring at 11-7.
Patrick Johnson took the loss for MU in goal, making seven saves while allowing six goals in the final three periods of play. Josh Shanker made the start the Cougars, making six saves and allowing five goals in the first period.
The Cougars host Manhattanville on Saturday at 1:00 PM.
