CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - The No. 6 Spartans handed DeSales its first loss of the season on Saturday as York pulled away in the fourth quarter of a 16-8 victory.

Team Records

#6 York 5-0

DeSales 4-1

How it happened

The Spartans found themselves trailing for the first time this season when DeSales got on the board first with 11:31 left in the first quarter as the Bulldogs cashed in following a York turnover. The deficit was short-lived for the high-flying Spartan offense as they ripped off two goals, out-shooting the Bulldogs 12-1 on that run, to take a 2-1 advantage with 4:46 left in the first quarter. DeSales responded seven seconds later as face-off man Chase Yoder took it himself and notched the equalizer off the draw. Just over a minute later, Brendan O'Sullivan settled York's nerves with a pair of tallies 38 seconds apart as the Spartans took a 4-2 lead into the first intermission.

The Spartans and Bulldogs went back-and-forth in the second quarter, but the Spartans managed to cause more turnovers, giving their offense extra opportunities to capitalize, which they did. DeSales cut the deficit to two with 5:37 left, but York responded with a key stop on the ensuing possession, which then turned into a Spartan goal on the other end. York held its three-goal lead into the final minute of the half before O'Sullivan delivered a crushing goal with just 34 seconds left to send York into halftime leading, 9-5.

The two teams went blow for blow to open the second half with Dylan Wolf and O'Sullivan doing the damage for York as the Spartans owned an 11-7 advantage with 12:09 left in the third quarter. Following the opening flury, the defensive units found their footing and slowed the scoring pace for a few possessions. Jack Michael denied the Bulldogs twice before Wolf registered his second tally of the quarter to give the Green and White a 12-7 lead with just over five minutes left to play. DeSales would get one back but the Spartans came through again with another late tally as Jarrod Marenger found the back of the net with 1:14 left as York owned a 13-8 lead heading into the final quarter.

Two early DeSales turnovers, combined with a penalty and a Spartan man-up goal set the tone for the fourth quarter. The Spartans dominated the final 15 minutes as they out-shot the Bulldogs, 14-1, owned an 11-5 ground ball advantage and forced four DeSales turnovers as they pitched a shutout on the scoreboard.

Up next

The Spartans conclude their run of six-straight road games with a trip to Arcadia on Wednesday. Opening face-off is set for 7 p.m.

Notes

Fifth-year defenseman Ryan Kennedy established a new career-high with four caused turnovers on the day to go along with a trio of ground balls … senior defenseman Tyler Nation picked up a season-high five ground balls to go along with a pair of caused turnovers as he now has two caused turnovers per game in four-straight games … senior attack Brendan O'Sullivan notched a season-high six points on a season-high tying five goals and one assist as he ranks second in the conference with 20 points … junior attack Eric Ranck matched his career-high with a season-best three assists on the day.