READING, Pa. – The Albright Lions men's lacrosse team was unable to overcome a slow start as they fell 9-3 to Mount Saint Mary (NY) on Saturday afternoon in non-conference action at Shirk Stadium.
 
With the loss, the Lions fall to 0-4 overall on the season. Meanwhile, the Knights of the Skyline Conference improve to 2-2 overall on the year.
 
Goalkeepers ruled the first portion of the game as sophomore goalkeeper Conor Scafidi and Mount Saint Mary goalie Eli Laikin traded numerous stops to keep the game scoreless throughout the first quarter. However, the Knights finally capitalized with back-to-back goals near the end of the first quarter to take a 2-0 lead at the 2:03-mark. The Lions continued to get decent chances, but were unable to capitalize into the second quarter. The Knights struck again to make it 3-0 at the 10:25-mark of the second before extending its lead to 4-0 at the 6:09-mark. Both teams were plagued by turnovers in the last six minutes to keep the score at 4-0 headed into halftime.
 
Mount Saint Mary came out hot in the second half as they scored three goals in 52 seconds to take a 7-0 lead at the 10:36-mark of the third quarter. The Knights then went up 8-0 just over a minute later following their fourth-consecutive faceoff win. Sophomore Shane Early would finally get the Lions on the board at the 5:33-mark on a man-down goal after classmate Ryan Wilburn found him on a fast break opportunity. Early then recorded his second goal of the game at the 8:23-mark of the fourth quarter to make it 8-2 in favor of the Knights. Mount Saint Mary responded with a diving goal in front of the crease at the 6:33-mark to make it 9-2. Freshman Alex McKendry closed the contest's scoring at the 2:52-mark with his first goal of the game to make it 9-3.
 
The Knights held a 38-26 advantage in shots for the game after out-shooting the Lions 15-4 in the third quarter. Mount Saint Mary also held a 26-17 advantage in shots on goal and in ground balls at 44-33.  The teams split wins in the faceoff circle at eight apiece. Scafidi suffered the loss after making a career-high 17 saves, while Laikin earned the win after making 14 saves.
 
The Lions will return to action on Wednesday, March 13^th when they will host Gwynedd Mercy in non-conference action at 7 p.m.