YORK, PA – The York College men's lacrosse squad fell to #10 Dickinson College 20-8 Tuesday afternoon in York. The loss gives the Spartans a 2-5 mark on the year while the Red Devils remain unbeaten with a 7-0 record.

The story of the game proved to be the third quarter. Dickinson went into the halftime break with an 8-5 advantage but a Red Devil spearing penalty, deemed unreleaseable by the officiating crew, with four seconds left in the half gave York a man-up opportunity heading into that telling third quarter.

The Spartans were unable to score on the man-advantage but did tally shortly thereafter. Junior midfielder Adam Cooper (Bel Air, Md./Bel Air) notched his ninth goal of the year with 13:22 to go in the third.

With just under 12 minutes left, Kevin Topper (Marriottsville, Md./Liberty) brought the Green and White to within one at 8-7 with his tenth goal of the 2010 campaign. Freshman Jamie Lowe (Monrovia, Md./Urbana), who currently leads the squad in assists, provided the pass that led to Topper's goal.

Now down only one, the Spartans looked primed to make a complete comeback.

However, that would not be the case as Dickinson quickly dashed any Spartan hopes.

The Red Devils embarked on an extended 10-goal run that spanned over 17 minutes. With 9:17 to play in the third, Pat Curley put Dickinson up two at 9-7 on a Matt Cherry assist.

That tally began a stretch of seven unanswered goals throughout the rest of the third quarter to give Dickinson a significant 15-7 margin.

The fourth proved much the same, as the Green and White could not get on track offensively while the Red Devils could not be derailed.

For the game, the tenth-ranked Dickinson squad held a huge 49-29 lead in shots while nabbing 45 ground balls to York's 33. The visitors also got the best of the Spartans in face-offs, winning 18 of the 28 opportunities.

Ted Sirvaitis led Dickinson on the offensive end with six goals while Cherry added three scores and two assists. In total, eleven different players scored for the Red Devils. Chris Dodson posted a game-high five assists. Chip Murray proved outstanding in face-offs as he went 16-of-23 while collecting seven ground balls.

For the Spartans, Cooper tallied a team-best three goals while adding an assist. Spartan points-leader Josh Gamble (Easton, Md./Easton), who is currently ranked second in the country with 31 points, recorded a pair of tallies and one helper against Dickinson.

The Spartans, who have suffered three of their losses this season to teams that are currently ranked in the top-15 in the country, will look to edge toward the .500 mark on Saturday, March 20. The Green and White are slated to travel to Catholic for a 2:30 p.m. non-conference tilt with the Cardinals.

GAME BOX

Jamie Lowe photo courtesy of Zach Clabaugh - www.sharpedgephoto.smugmug.com