BOSTON, Mass. – Wheaton College (Mass.) men's lacrosse fell at host Emerson College, 14-6, this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Rotch Field in Boston, Mass.

The Lyons fall to 4-5 overall and 0-2 in NEWMAC play, while the Lions improve to 4-6 and 1-0.

Emerson dominated the 'X', winning 19 of 24 faceoffs, while owning a 39-25 advantage on ground balls. Wheaton had four man-up opportunities, but were unable to capitalize on its advantage. The Lions took a 9-5 lead at halftime and was unable to score in the third quarter as the Lyons inched closer at 9-6, but Emerson scored five goals in the fourth period to put the game away.

Sophomore midfielder Jack Board (Westborough, Mass.) scored a career-high four goals to lead Wheaton and added a ground ball, while classmate Charlie Racine (Oradell, N.J.) netted a pair of goals to go with four ground balls and a caused turnover. Sophomore defender Tiago Paula Santos (Newington, Conn.) helped support the defense with three caused turnovers and also picked up a pair of ground balls. Sophomore goalie John Drew (North Andover, Mass.) stopped 10 shots for the Lyons.

Sophomore attackman Jack Burns (Clarksville, Md.) led all scorers for the Lions with eight goals in addition to a ground ball, while junior attacker Birk Swan (Palos Verdes, Calif.) racked up seven points, including a trio of goals and added three ground balls. Senior midfielder James Toomy (Londonderry, N.H.) came up with a game-high eight ground balls and won 18 of 23 faceoffs, while first year defender John Marcone (Oakland, Calif.) caused a game-best six turnovers and picked up five ground balls. Graduate student goalie Malcolm McGrath (Ridgefield, Conn.) made 12 saves for Emerson.

Swan put the Lions on the board on a feed from senior attackman Nicholas Fulgione (North Andover, Mass.) just 49 seconds into the match, before Racine matched him at 12:12 to pull Wheaton even at 1-1.

Burns and Swan each found the back of the net for Emerson, but Board scored his first goal of the afternoon for the Lyons to cut the deficit to 3-2 before the end of the first period.

Swan fed first year midfielder Aedan Kiniry (Westport, Conn.) with 13:12 remaining in the second quarter, before Board struck again 10:43 to bring Wheaton to within 5-3. Burn scored the next three goals in a span of 2:18 to increase the Lion advantage to 8-3. Board netted a pair of goals for the Lyons within 71 seconds of each other to cut the margin to 8-5 with 4:12 showing on the second quarter clock. Burns scored again for the home team with 3:54 left before the end of the half to give Emerson a 9-5 lead at the intermission.

Racine scored the only goal of the third quarter with 8:50 remaining in the period to pull Wheaton to within three goals at 9-6.

The Lions defense held strong in the final period of play, while the offense scored five unanswered goals in the quarter to secure the win. Burns scored the final two markers of the day within 52 seconds of each other to give Emerson an eight-goal win.

The Lyons return to play on Tuesday, March 28 when they head to Buzzards Bay, Mass. to take on Massachusetts Maritime Academy at 7:00 p.m., while the Lions return to action on April 1 when they head to Worcester, Mass. to take on NEWMAC foe Clark University at 7:00 p.m.