YORK, PA – The York College men's lacrosse squad was outscored 3-0 in the decisive fourth quarter as the sixth ranked Spartans dropped a 10-7 decision to Roanoke College on a dreary Wednesday afternoon in York.

The Spartans suffered their first loss in three outings this year, falling to 2-1 after making their debut in the USILA Top 10 on Monday. The Maroons, who fell out of the most recent rankings for the first time this year, improve to 2-1 with the victory.

Roanoke got off to a great start as they scored four of the first five goals of the game to sprint out to a 4-1 lead with 3:07 left in the first quarter. Junior Andrew Gamble (Easton, Md./Easton) cut the Spartan deficit to two goals with an unassisted tally with two minutes left in the quarter.

York's defense tightened in the second quarter as the Spartan offense climbed back into the game. Gamble opened the quarter scoring with a goal off a Dillon Hannah (Catonsville, Md./Catonsville) pass at the 9:43 mark. The Maroons pushed the lead back to two at 5-3 with a Cameron Linsley goal with 4:29 left in the half. York got a dramatic goal from freshman Matt Whitcher (Huntington Square, N.Y./Huntington) with just one second left on the clock, drawing York to within one at 5-4 heading to the break.

The Spartans played well in the third quarter to get back into the game. Hannah tied the game just over five minutes into the second half with his sixth goal of the year. Kevin Jackson notched his third goal of the game as Roanoke recaptured the lead with 7:37 left in the quarter. York responded with goals from Andrew Warburton (Frederick, Md./Gov. Thomas Johnson) and Dan Kaplan (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) as York held a 7-6 lead with 2:38 left in the third. The Maroons got a big goal from Will Pilat just 26 seconds after Kaplan's goal as the game was tied at seven heading to the fourth.

Roanoke dominated the final period, as the Spartans never got on track offensively. The Maroons started the quarter on a man-advantage and that set the tone for the period. Roanoke controlled possession for a majority of the quarter as the Spartans committed seven turnovers in the final 15 minutes of play.

Roanoke took the lead on a Colin Mackenzie goal with 10:02 left in the game. The Maroons then hit York with a second goal just ten seconds later as Jackson scored his fourth goal on a fast break off the face off win, pushing the Roanoke lead to 9-7. The Maroons put the nail in the coffin with a man-up goal from Tyler McWilliams with 5:45 left in the game.

York would manage to get just two shots over the final five minutes of the game, as they wouldn't be able to put any significant pressure on the Maroon defense.

Jackson led the Maroons with five points on four goals and an assist. He also had three ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers. Pilat added two goals while Mackenzie and McWilliams each had two points on a goal and an assist. Linsley and Conn Curry each had four ground balls to lead Roanoke. Pilat, Wes Pancoast, and Steven Jackson each had three caused turnovers for the Maroons.

Gamble led the Spartans as he notched a pair of goals and an assist. Kaplan netted a pair of goals for the Green and White while Hannah had a goal and an assist for two points.

Junior defender Josh Kluver (Abington, Pa./Abington) was outstanding as he picked up a game-high six ground balls in addition to four caused turnovers. Sophomore Jake Katchmark (Centreville, Va./Westfield) went 11-for-19 at the X while he also had a pair of ground balls.

Dylan Torrey earned the win in goal for the Maroons as he recorded nine saves in his 60 minutes of action. Junior Caleb Abney (Forest Hill, Md./Fallston) suffered the loss as he registered ten saves while he allowed eight goals in his 50:24 of action. Junior James Anderson (Pasadena, Md./Annapolis Area Christian) made three saves and allowed two goals in his 9:36 of play.

Turnovers killed the Spartans as the finished the game with a season-high 26 turnovers. That is the highest total of miscues for the Spartans since the April 12, 2014 win over Wesley when York had 28 turnovers.

The Maroons held a 36-28 edge in shots while they held a slight 33-32 margin in ground balls. York won 11 of the 19 face offs while both teams failed on five clears as Roanoke was 16-of-21 and York was 14-of-19.

York struggled on the extra man opportunities, as they were 0-for-6 while Roanoke was 1-for-5.

The Spartans are scheduled to return to action on Saturday when they host Messiah College in a 3:00 pm in a non-conference game at Kinsley Field.

Andrew Gamble photo courtesy of Joe Rodgers