WENHAM, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's lacrosse team took a 6-1 lead midway through the second quarter, but was unable to halt host Gordon College from an 11-9 comeback victory this afternoon at the Brigham Sports Complex in Wenham, Mass.

The Lyons dip to 1-1 on the season, while the Fighting Scots improve to 1-1.

The contest was evenly played all around with Wheaton holding a 42-38 margin in shots and a 13-11 edge in faceoffs. Gordon committed just three fewer turnovers than the Lyons and both teams failed just three times each on the clear. 

Junior midfielder Mike McLaughlin (Stoughton, Mass.) led Wheaton with three goals and added a ground ball and a caused turnover, while junior midfielders Charlie Racine (Oradell, N.J.) and Jack Board (Westborough, Mass.) each netted a pair of goals. Racine picked up a career and game-high 10 ground balls and won 13 of 23 faceoffs to go with a caused turnover and Board came up with a ground ball. Senior defender Jacob Wharton (Worcester, Mass.) registered six ground balls and caused a turnover. Junior goalie Connor Almstrom (Cumberland, R.I.) made 14 saves.

Sophomore attackman Ryan Arthur (Manorville, N.Y.) led all players with a career-high four goals and an assist for the Fighting Scots and added a pair of ground balls. Senior midfielder Marco Fernandez (Fishkill, N.Y.) registered four points, including a pair of goals, while senior midfielder John Flemmi (Braintree, Mass.) found the back of the net twice and picked up a ground ball. Sophomore attacker Jackson Wright (Cazenovia, N.Y.) collected three points, including two assists and added a ground ball. Sophomore Aidan Walsh (Scituate, Mass.) came up with six ground balls and won 11 faceoffs and first year defender Cullen Davey (Wolfeboro, N.H.) scored a goal, caused three turnovers and picked up two ground balls. Junior goalie Colin Liscomb (Woodstock, Conn.) recorded the win with 17 saves.

Racine and McLaughlin each tallied a pair of markers during an opening run that saw the Lyons take a 6-1 lead following a McLaughlin goal with 5:26 left in the second quarter. Racine also scored a man-down goal late in the opening quarter. Wheaton scored the first four goals of the game. 

Gordon re-grouped and scored seven of the next eight goals to take its first lead of the afternoon at 8-7 with 13:48 remaining in the fourth quarter. Fernandez bookended a pair of goals around an Arthur score, including a marker with just nine ticks left in the opening half to pull the home team within 6-4 before the intermission. McLaughlin scored the first goal of the third quarter for Wheaton to make it 7-4 at 12:15, but the Fighting Scots were true to their moniker, scoring four more goals, including two more from Arthur, to take the lead in the opening minutes of the final quarter of play.

Board scored on a feed from sophomore midfielder Karter Noyes (Manchester Center, Vt.) to knot the score at 8-8 at 7:46 for the Lyons, but Flemmi answered with two goals in a span of 58 seconds to give Gordon a 10-8 margin with 4:47 showing on the fourth quarter clock. 

First year attacker Theo Stamatel (Plainville, Mass.) picked a good time for his first collegiate goal for Wheaton, cutting the deficit to 10-9 with 3:17 to go in the game, but Davey sealed the victory for the Fighting Scots with the game's final goal coming with 2:09 left in the game.

The Lyons return to action on Thursday, January 29 when they host Anna Maria College on Nordin Field at 7:00 p.m., while Gordon heads to Keene, N.H. on March 1 to take on Keene State College at 12:00 p.m.