ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – The Albright men's lacrosse team suffered a 23-7 MAC Commonwealth loss at Eastern on Saturday.
 
With the loss, the Lions drop to 0-5 in conference and 4-9 overall. Meanwhile, the Eagles improve to 4-2 in conference and 6-8 overall.
 
First-year Ryan Houghtaling led the Lions with three points behind three assists on the afternoon. First-year Jack Burke, sophomore Jon Alvarez, and senior Jacob Cunningham all added two points. Senior Ryan Janowski and first-year Hunter Fitterling led Albright's back line with three caused turnovers apiece.
 
The Eagles got off to a quick start tallying three unanswered goals in the opening minutes. Alvarez got the Lions on the board at the 11:27-mark on a man-up opportunity behind a feed from Houghtaling to cut their deficit to 3-1. Eastern didn't let Albright hang around for long, however, netting six-straight to close out the opening frame with a 9-1 advantage.
 
Eastern capped off their run with the opening goal of the second stanza at the 13:39-mark. First-year Colton Lehrer finally snapped the run with an assist from Cunningham at the 12:49-mark, bringing the score to 10-2. The Eagles picked their momentum back up with eighth unanswered goals to close out the half with a commanding 18-2 lead.
 
The two teams battled back and forth throughout the third frame as Eastern opened the second half scoring with a goal at the 11:49-mark. Sophomore Tyler Richards found the back of the net on a man-up opportunity with an assist from Cunningham at the 9:25-mark. Eastern added two more scores, including a man-up goal, but senior Shane Early capped off the quarter with a goal in the final minute, bringing the score to 21-4.
 
Albright won the final frame 3-2 as Burke opened the scoring in the fourth with an unassisted goal at the 13:25-mark. Eastern capped off their scoring with back-to-back goals, extending their lead to 23-5 with 4:32 remaining. Burke and Alvarez netted one more each for the Lions in the fourth, but the Eagles ultimately claimed the dominant 23-7 conference victory.
 
Eastern held a 43-33 shot advantage over Albright. The Eagles also dominated in the battle for ground balls 61-25 and faceoffs 26-8. First-year goalkeeper Ethan Hendershot receives the loss for the Lions with six saves. Ethan Myers earns the win for Eastern with three saves in 30 minutes of action.
 
Albright will return to Shirk Stadium on Saturday at 1 p.m. to host Stevenson in MAC Commonwealth action.