CHESTERTOWN, Md. – A fast start powered the Ursinus Men's Lacrosse team to a 16-12 road win over Washington College on Saturday afternoon in Centennial Conference action.
 
 
 
With the win, the Bears improved to 7-7 overall and 2-5 in Centennial Conference action. Meanwhile, the Shoremen fell to 8-8 overall and 2-5 in conference play.
 
 
The Shoremen got on the board in the first minute of the contest but was quickly answered 13 seconds later when Tyler Falco scored to tie things at one, starting what would be a career day for the senior. Senior Erik Ojert worked inside past his defender to respond to another Shoremen goal and set off a big run for the Bears in the first quarter. Junior Drake Kasoff set a quick clear following a save and found a wide open senior Chase Rondeau, who buried his long pole shot in the back of the net to put Ursinus up 3-2 at the 11:55-mark of the first quarter. Sophomore Christopher Pucciarelli found senior Tyler Neal open near the crease and he put the ball in the net as he went off-balanced to make it 4-2 at the 9:28-mark. Neal repaid the favor five minutes later as he found Pucciarelli to extend the Ursinus lead to 5-2. The Shoremen ended the Bears streak of goals at 3:02 but the Bears added three more goals to go into the second quarter up 8-3. Neal added a second goal of the quarter following the ensuing faceoff with from the Shoremen goal and found senior Jake Ojert for a tally at the 1:38-mark. Senior Chase Rondeau caused a Washington turnover that led to a final minute assault for the Bears that paid off when Falco scored with four seconds left. The Shoremen opened the second quarter with back-to-back goals to make it an 8-5 game, but senior Eddie Newman snatched an Erik Ojert pass from X at the 8:18-mark and put the Bears up 9-5. Ursinus closed the first half with some momentum as they countered another Shoremen goal with two of their own to go up 11-6 at halftime. Falco worked around two defenders to score the first of the two Bears goals and found freshman Lars Homan a minute later off a man-up opportunity for the second.
 
 
Like the second quarter, the Shoremen scored back-to-back goals to start the third quarter and cut the Bears lead to 11-8. Falco answered for Ursinus after freshman Harry Sweitzer found him on the edge of the crease to make it 12-8. Neal added another tally unassisted at the 7:36-mark of the third quarter extending the Bears advantage to 13-8 before Washington added two-straight goals to hang around at 13-10 with 4:28 left in the third quarter. Pucciarelli, however, kept the Shoremen at bay by sneaking a ball in the left edge of the net and made it a 14-10 game. Washington added a goal at the end of the third quarter and made it a two-goal game for the first time since the first quarter at 14-12 with 9:53 left in regulation. The Bears defense locked down the Shoremen for the final nine minutes while adding two final goals to lock up the win. Sweitzer found senior Jeremy Calabro open in front of the top of the crease on a rush for the first of two Bear tallies before Homan added his second score from a man-up opportunity at the 7:59-mark.
 
 
Ursinus held a 54-42 overall shot advantage while each team tallied 28 shots on net. The Bears held a 32-30 shot advantage for the game and dominated the faceoff circle by winning 21 of the 21 faceoffs behind a 17-of-25 performance by sophomore Dominic Nottoli. Senior Quinn Watson earned his first collegiate win after making 12 saves in the full 60 minutes of action. Cole Corrigan suffered the loss for the Shoremen after making 11 saves in 37:24 of action while Robert Eigenrauch made five saves in the final 22:36.
 
 
Falco registered a career-high six points behind four goals and two assists and Neal posted five points on three goals and two assists. Pucciarelli posted two goals and two assists for four points and Erik Ojert tallied a team-high three assists plus a goal for four points.
 
 
The Bears will wrap up their 2023 season on Saturday, April 29th as they will host No. 9 Dickinson at 3:00 p.m.