Middlebury, Vt. – March 13, 2013 – The Springfield College men’s lacrosse team’s second-half rally fell short as it lost to host Middlebury, 18-12, on Wednesday afternoon at Alumni Stadium. Ryon Lynch led the way for the Pride with a game-high seven points.

The Panthers improved to 2-0 with the win, while the Pride dropped its third-straight to fall to 1-3.

Lynch finished the day with four goals and three assists, while Bryce Cerriello tallied a hat trick to go along with an assist. Connor Nash started for the first time this season and was charged with the loss as he posted just five saves. Branden Fernandez won 18-of-33 face-offs and scooped up 11 ground balls.

For Middlebury, Mike Giordano had four goals and two assists, while teammate Jon Broome added four goals and an assist of his own. Stew Kerr netted a hat trick and Darric White picked up a team-best eight ground balls. Between the pipes, Nate Gaudio recorded 12 saves in the victory.

Middlebury opened up the game scoring nine of the first 11 goals to own a 9-2 advantage with 4:49 to go in the first half. The Pride answered back with three-straight goals of their own, using a strike from defenseman Matt Giannelli 1:32 into the second half to get within four a 9-5.

The hosts responded with three of the next four goals to regain a six-goal cushion with 6:25 left in the third on another goal from Broome, only to have Springfield use another three-goal spurt to make it a three-goal contest. Lynch scored back-to-back goals in the burst, the final one coming with 33 seconds on the clock in the third.

However, Middlebury’s offense erupted for six goals in the fourth quarter to run away with the game. Sean Carroll scored a pair of man-up goals in the run to pace the Panthers to victory.

The Pride held a 50-44 edge in shots, a 37-36 advantage in ground balls, and both teams committed eight penalties in the contest.

Springfield will try to snap its three-game skid when it hosts 18th-ranked Union on Saturday at 1:00 pm.