PAINESVILLE, Ohio - For the second straight season, the men's lacrosse team went down to the wire against Lake Erie and ultimately fell just short in a one-goal setback 15-14 on Wednesday afternoon. The Panthers got off to a great start with six goals in the first quarter and led by two after 15 minutes.

Lake Erie got the first two goals from Jackman Schooley and Brendan Luthart in the first 2:30 of the contest. The Panthers then would go on to score five of the next six goals to take a 5-3 lead. Trevor McDonald scored his first of the season at 6:32 and Keelan McKouen also scored twice in that span. James Johnston was also able to score twice with his second goal coming at 1:28 from McDonald for the 6-4 advantage.

Davenport increased their lead to 8-4 with the first two goals of the second quarter. Kaden Seelye and Dylan Day gave the Panthers a little cushion and they would keep a 10-7 lead going into the locker room for halftime. The offense stalled in the third quarter and allowed the Storm back into the game. Johnston at 9:21 of the quarter was the only tally of the third while Lake Erie scored three times to make it 11-10 in favor of DU with one quarter left.

Lake Erie scored the first three goals of the fourth quarter to take a 13-11 lead. Schooley, Dawson Kindall, and Luthart gave the Storm a lead they would not relinquish. McKouen cut the deficit to 13-12 at 10:20, but the Storm build their lead back up to 15-12 after goals by Billy Coughlin and Connor Dent. The Panthers would fight back with goals by McDonald at 6:08 and Jayden Ashley at 4:05, but could not get the needed tying goal in the final 4:05. Ashley had a shot on goal with 2:48 left but that was the final chance to tie it up.

Lake Erie held a 29-23 edge in shots on goal. The main category that needed to be noted was that Lake Erie won 26-of-33 in the face-off circle which makes it all the more impressive that DU kept it close. DU went 0-for-4 in extra-man chances while LEC went 1-for-2.

Chase Post led the team with five groundballs. McDonald finished with two goals and two assists in his first action of the season. McKouen led the squad with four goals and all six shots were on target. Daniel Milano made six saves in 30:48 and then Chase Fisher finished in net for the final 29:12 and made eight saves.