GWYNEDD VALLEY, Pa. – The Albright men's lacrosse team earned their first win of the 2022 season with a 15-11 victory at Gwynedd Mercy on Wednesday.
 
With the win, the Lions advance to 1-3 overall. Meanwhile the Griffins open up their season 0-1.
 
First-year Jack Burke and junior Jay Shifflet combined for 12 points on the evening to lead the Lions to victory. Burke totaled seven points behind four goals and three assists and grabbed six ground balls. Shifflet added five points on four goals and one assist and a game-high seven ground balls. Senior Cole Genneken recorded three points behind one goal and two assists and a game-high four caused turnovers.
 
Albright got on the board early with an unassisted goal from senior Alex McKendry in the opening three minutes of action. Genneken followed at the 8:23-mark behind an assist from Burke to put the Lions up 2-0. The Griffins started to heat up as they closed the opening frame with two unanswered goals to tie the game up.
 
The Lions dominated in the second stanza with an 18-6 shot advantaged and six unanswered goals. Burke put Albright back in front with a goal at the 10:15-mark off a feed from senior Jacob Cunningham. Senior Shane Early followed with back-to-back goals within two minutes to extend the Lions lead to 5-2 at the 7:58-mark. Shifflet added the next three goals for Albright to close out the first half and give them an 8-2 lead entering the break.
 
Cunningham found the back of the net to open the final stanza and continue the Lions run. The Griffins finally snapped the run and began to find their footing, netting three-straight goals to cut their deficit to 12-8 at the 9:12-mark. Burke added two more goals to his tally less than a minute apart, followed by McKendry's second goal to keep the Lions in front 15-8 with 6:29 remaining. The Griffins didn't let up, however, as they went on a three-goal run and cut their deficit to 15-11 at the 3:53-mark. Albright stood tall throughout the remainder of the game and sophomore Tyler Richards notched the final goal of the game to solidify the Lions 16-11 non-conference victory.
 
Albright held a 51-41 shot advantage over Gwynedd Mercy and won the battle for ground balls 44-34. The Lions held a slight 15-13 advantage in face offs and forced the Griffins to 23 turnovers. Junior goalkeeper Liam Ferry earns the win for Albright with ten saves in 60 minutes of action. Aubron Swartley receives the loss for Gwynedd Mercy despite making 11 saves in the full amount of action.
 
The Lions will return to Shirk Stadium on Saturday to continue their non-conference schedule against Penn College at 1 p.m.