Box Score

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Despite jumping out to a 3-1 lead after one quarter, Susquehanna's men's lacrosse team was outscored by Muhlenberg 6-3 the rest of the way as the Crusaders fell to the Mules 7-6 in the first road game of 2013.

Senior Tylere Fritts (Chatham, N.J. / Chatham) fired in his first goal of the year to hand the Crusaders (1-1) the lead 6-5 with 9:07 to go in the game. Unfortunately, that lead didn't last for long as the Mules (1-2) scored the equalizer less than three minutes later and recorded the go-ahead goal at 2:47 to claim the lead 7-6. The Crusaders recorded three shots in the remaining seconds, but none could find the back of the net.

Muhlenberg outshot SU 43-23 and won 11 of 17 face-off opportunities. Jon Thomas and Doug Rheiner both recorded hat-tricks for the Mules as Rheiner fired a game-high 14 shots.

Senior goalkeeper Will Torrence (Wallingford, Pa. / Strath Haven) made 15 saves between the pipes. Freshman Corrie Van Hassteren (Raymone, Maine / Hebron Academy) had team-high three caused turnovers and led the team with five ground balls.

Sophomore Carmen Raroha (Voorhees, N.J. / Bishop Eustace) notched the first goal of the contest and his second of the young season at the 7:32 mark of the first quarter. Fifteen seconds later, freshman Connor Moran (Delafield, Wisc. / Kettle Moraine) scored his third goal of the year off a feed from junior Austen Lein (New Vernon, N.J. / Madison) to give SU a 2-0 lead.

But the Mules responded quickly, firing off four shots and scoring on the fifth—a man-up opportunity—to trim the Crusader lead in half, 2-1 with 3:07 left. The Crusaders were not done scoring in the opening period, however, as Ryan Natusch (Madison, Conn. / Daniel Hand) scored his first goal of the year off an assist from Moran to give SU a two-goal lead (3-1) after one quarter.

But the second period was all Muhlenberg as they scored three goals within a seven-minute span to jump ahead 4-3 at halftime. The Mules outshot SU 14-7 in that quarter.

Both teams traded goals to start the third quarter with the Mules notching a score only 1:24 after intermission. SU countered as Lein scored his second of the season at 10:43 to trim the deficit to one (5-4).Moran ripped in another goal, his second of the contest, to put the game in a 5-5 deadlock with 1:53 to go in the third.

The Crusaders remain on the road as they travel to King's (Pa.) on Saturday, March 2 at 1 p.m. Last season, SU defeated the Monarchs 4-2.