READING, Pa. – Lebanon Valley used a strong second half to outlast the Albright men's lacrosse team 13-8 in MAC Commonwealth action at Shirk Stadium on Saturday.
 
With the loss, the Lions drop to 0-2 in conference and 4-6 overall. Meanwhile, the Dutchmen improve to 2-0 in MAC Commonwealth play and 7-4 overall.
 
Senior Jacob Cunningham matched a career-high four goals to lead the Lions offense. Senior Cole Genneken added three goals while senior Ryan Janowski grabbed a game-high and career-high eight ground balls.
 
The Dutchmen notched the opening goal of the game at the 13:24-mark to claim the early lead. 30 seconds later the Lions got on the board behind an unassisted goal from Genneken to tie the game at one. Cunningham notched his first goal of the game at the 11:00-mark to put Albright in front. Senior Shane Early capped off the Lions three-goal run behind a feed from sophomore Jon Alvarez to extend their advantage to 3-1 with 10:03 remaining in the first. Lebanon Valley tallied the final goal of the quarter to get within one at 3-2.
 
The two teams battled in the opening minutes of the second quarter, but the Dutchmen netted back-to-back goals less than 30 seconds apart to take a 4-3 lead at the 8:54-mark. Cunningham responded with an unassisted goal at the 4:10-mark to tie the game at four. Cunningham found the back of the net once more with just one second remaining in the half to put the Lions ahead 5-4 entering the break.
 
Lebanon Valley controlled the pace coming out of the half netting four-straight goals to grasp an 8-5 advantage. Genneken snapped the run with an unassisted goal to cut the Lions deficit to two with 4:49 remaining in the third stanza. However, Lebanon Valley notched back-to-back scores to close out the quarter to hold a 10-6 lead entering the fourth.
 
The Dutchmen kept their momentum going in the final frame with three unanswered goals to grasp their largest lead of the game at seven with 4:25 left to play. Albright saw two final goals from Genneken and Cunningham, but the Lions were unable to overcome their deficit as Lebanon Valley claimed the 13-8 win
 
Lebanon Valley held a sizable 58-38 shot advantage and 36-18 shot on goal advantage. The Dutchmen also won the battle for ground balls 40-39 and faceoffs 12-11. First-year goalkeeper Ethan Hendershot receives the loss for the Lions despite completing a career-high 23 saves in the full amount of action. Nick Serrano earns the win for Lebanon Valley with ten saves in 60 minutes of play.
 
Albright continues MAC Commonwealth play on Wednesday at 7 p.m. as they travel to York.