READING, Pa. – The Albright Lions men's lacrosse team suffered a 25-7 loss to Misericordia on Saturday afternoon at Shirk Stadium in non-conference action.
 
With the loss, the Lions fall to 0-2 on the season overall. Meanwhile, the Cougars pick up their first win of the season in their season opener.
 
Turnovers plagued the Lions early as the Cougars took advantage with two goals within a span of 1:02 of each other to take the early lead at the 11-minute mark. The Lions were able to force turnovers on back-to-back Cougar possessions, but Misericordia scored four goals in a span of 1:33 to take a 6-0 lead at the 6:13-mark of the first quarter. The Cougars continued to control play as they added four more goals to go up 10-0 headed into the second quarter. Misericordia added to its lead with three goals in the first 1:03 of the second quarter to go up 13-0. Albright began generating chances on net, but were unable to get on the board. The Cougars were able to score two more goals in the second quarter to take a 15-0 lead into halftime.
 
Misericordia continued its success into the second half as they reeled off five-straight goals to take a commanding 21-0 lead at the 3:49-mark of the third quarter. Junior Connor Graser was able to get the Lions on the board at the 2:38-mark, and was followed 13 seconds later by a goal from sophomore Jacob Cunningham to make it 21-2. Junior John Gilbert scored the Lions third-straight goal with 57 seconds left in the third quarter, but the Cougars answered seven seconds later behind a quick faceoff win to bring the score to 22-3. Sophomore Cole Genneken scored the Lions fourth goal of the third quarter with 21 seconds left. Gilbert continued the Lions scoring run with his second goal of the game at the 13:47-mark of the fourth quarter, and was followed just 1:19 later by Cunningham to make it a 22-6 game. Gilbert completed his hat trick with a goal at the 10:21-mark to make it a 22-7 game before Misericordia closed the game with the final three goals.
 
The Cougars held a 51-38 shot advantage for the game, and a 34-25 advantage in shots on goal. Misericordia held a 48-33 edge in ground balls, while winning 23 of the 36 faceoffs on the afternoon. Albright forced 26 Cougar turnovers. A pair of first-year goalkeepers split time in net for the Lions. Liam Ferry suffered the loss after making seven saves in the first half, and Ethan Hinman made two saves in the second half. Cougar goalkeeper Bryan DeGennaro earned the win after making 10 saves in 33:56 of action, while allowing no goals. Gilbert led the Lions with three goals on the afternoon. Patrick Luzzi led Misericordia with eight points behind four goals and four assists.
 
 
The Lions will return to action on Saturday, February 29^th as they will travel to face Bryn Athyn at 7 p.m. in non-conference action.