Men's Lacrosse Drops Its First MLC Outing Against Monmouth

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The Fontbonne University men's lacrosse team hosted Monmouth in its first Midwest Lacrosse Conference (MLC) outing on Wednesday night, however, the Scots came away with the 6-2 win.

The Griffins (1-5; 0-1 MLC), struggled tonight with just 14 shots, going 1-of-9 from the face-off and committed 30 turnovers. Offensively, Dalton Teague and Cameron Director scored, while in net, Nick Fresta posted a season-high 16 saves.

Monmouth (3-1; 1-0 MLC), meanwhile, finished with 38 shots and they were led by Braden Cross' two-goal performance. Jack Koenn, Jeff Knapp, Croy Seagren and Jeffrey Ivie added the other goals. In net, Chase Cranford was stout with his eight saves.

In the first quarter, the Griffins struck early with Teague scoring his seventh on the year, making it 1-0 just one minute and six seconds in.

The score remained the same up until 7:47. The Griffins went on the man-advantage after a slashing penalty by the Scots. Though, Monmouth forced a turnover and Koenn raced down the field, scoring a short-handed goal, tying the game at 1-1.

Less than a minute later, Knapp struck again, off an assist from Koenn, giving them its first advantage at 2-1. Monmouth added another goal with just under four minutes remaining, owning a 3-1 lead.

In the second, Monmouth led in shots 6-5 but both teams' net-minders stood tall in net, keeping it a 3-1 game after 30:00 minutes of play.

In the third, the Griffins went on the man-advantage again at 10:38. Prior to the penalty ending, Michael Picciolo found Director and he beat Cranford on the far side, cutting the deficit down to 3-2.

Right before the end of the quarter, the Griffins got called for an illegal body check and that gave Monmouth a one minute man-advantage.

The team capitalized on the opportunity as Cross' shot went off Fresta and into the back of the net, extending the teams lead out to 4-2. The Scots scored twice more in the fourth and held on for the four-goal win.

The Griffins look to bounce back on the road this weekend in another tough conference game against MSOE. Action begins at 1 p.m., on Saturday.

Fans make sure to stay updated on fontbonnegriffins.com throughout the year for full updates and recaps on the men's lacrosse team.