CHESTERTOWN, Md. – The Ursinus Men's Lacrosse used a big first half to hold on for a 10-9 win over Washington College in Centennial Conference play on Wednesday night.
 
 
With the win, the Bears improved to 3-6 overall and leveled their Centennial Conference record to 1-1. Meanwhile, the Shoremen fell to 4-5 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
 
 
After a defensive battle to start, first-year Daniel Rice opened the scoring at the 3:40-mark of the first quarter following a man-down situation to put Ursinus up 1-0. Junior Harry Sweitzer added a second tally for the Bears in the final minute of the first quarter to extend the advantage to 2-0. The Shoremen scored their first goal of the game at the 13:57-mark of the second quarter but were answered by two Ursinus goals within a two-minute span that made it a 4-1 game at the 10:10-mark. Sophomore Nick Pomajevich initially put Ursinus up 3-1 with his first goal of the game before senior Christopher Pucciarelli got his first tally to cap the burst. Ursinus once again had a rapid-fire response to a Shoremen goal as they added two more goals in a short span that made it 6-2 and carried into halftime. Junior Barrett Denlinger kept the Bears balanced scoring going with his first goal of the game before Pucciarelli added his second at the 5:27-mark of the second quarter.
 
 
The Shoremen made a charge to open the third quarter as they scored three goals in the first 4:11 of the second half, suddenly making it a one-goal game at 6-5. Ursinus settled in to stop the run and Sweitzer scored in the final minute of the third quarter to make it a two goal game once again at 7-5. Junior Lars Homan added his first goal of the game at the 11:15-mark of the fourth quarter before junior Aidan Kirk extended the Bears lead to 9-5 with his first goal at the 8:27-mark. Washington College cut the deficit to 9-6 at the 7:22-mark to only be answered by Kirk 1:22 later that put Ursinus up 10-6. The Bears had a shot saved at the 3:59-mark which sparked a near stunning rally in the final minutes from the Shoremen. Washington College scored on that ensuing possession to make it 10-7 at the 2:58-mark and took advantage of a failed Bears clear to cut the deficit to 10-8 at the 2:08-mark. Another Bears turnover set up a third Shoremen goal that made it 10-9 with 56 seconds left in regulation. The Shoremen won the ensuing faceoff and drew a Bears penalty with 29 seconds left. However, the Shoremen's two shots in the final seconds did not reach the net and the Bears held on for the win.
 
 
Washington College held a 49-33 shot advantage for the game and a slight 26-22 edge in shots on goal. The Shoremen held a narrow 32-31 advantage in ground balls while the Bears won 13 of the 22 faceoffs from junior Nils Updale. Bears first-year goalkeeper Colin Daroch turned in a heroic 17-save performance to earn the win in the full 60 minutes. Will Charvala made 12 saves in 60 minutes in the Shoremen to suffer the loss.
 
 
Pucciarelli led the Bears with three points behind two goals and one assist while Sweitzer plus Kirk tallied two goals apiece. Sophomore Jared Laskin added a pair of assists as well.
 
 
The Bears return to action on Saturday, March 29th as they will host Haverford at 12:00 p.m.