SAINT LEO, Fla. – The 13th-ranked Saint Leo men's lacrosse team lost 21-14 at home versus 17th-ranked Colorado Mesa in a non-conference bout.

The Lions struck first as junior Ben Baker laced a goal off a dish from classmate Aiden Knoetgen, however, the Mavericks scored five of the next six goals to hold a 5-2 lead. Junior Jimmy McGonigle and Baker tallied of pair of goals to trim the deficit to 5-4. Colorado Mesa finished the opening frame with two goals as it led by a 7-4 margin heading into the second quarter. Both teams split the first eight goals of the second frame before the Mavericks scored back-to-back to grasp a 13-8 edge at intermission.

The third quarter featured a back-and-forth scoring output with eight goals while Colorado Mesa found the back of the net on the final goal of the frame with 45 seconds to play. The Mavericks posted three consecutive goals to open the final quarter. Junior Zach Kroog and Konetgen registered the final goals of the game within the last five minutes of the regulation.

Knoetgen tallied a total of eight points that featured four goals and four assists. Junior Tristan Leblanc recorded two goals and a pair of assists. Junior Thomas Nelan notched two goals and one assist. Baker finished the game with two scores on three shot attempts. Junior John Raucci tallied one goal and one assist while freshman Maverick Chernoff and McGonigle each scored one goal. Defensively, junior James Davies caused four turnovers and two ground balls in addition to junior JD Henninger forced two turnovers and grabbed two ground balls. Junior Owen Wills collected six ground balls and caused one turnover while sophomore Andrew Graham recorded five ground balls. In the net, junior Drew Wheeler tallied eight saves in the complete-game effort.

Saint Leo returns to action on Saturday, March 22 as it travels to face Florida Southern for the Sunshine State Conference (SSC) opener, starting at 12 p.m.