Springfield, Mass. - March 29, 2016 - Despite an early 4-1 lead, the Springfield College men's lacrosse team dropped a 15-7 decision to Amherst College on Tuesday night on Stagg Field in non-conference action.

Amherst entered the game ranked tied for fourth in the nation in the latest USILA/Nike National Coaches Poll and is now 7-1.  Springfield's record dropped to 2-6 as it played its fifth nationally ranked team so far this season.

Dylan Sheehan (Massapequa, N.Y.) totaled two goals and an assist, while Kevin Dean (Westhampton, N.Y.) added a goal and two helpers.  Dom Abate (Beverly, Mass.) found the back of the cage twice and Tyler Heckmann (Brookfield, Conn.) dominanted the face-off "X", going 16-for-23 with eight ground balls.  Chris Santaniello (West Springfield, Mass.) was charged the loss after giving up 10 goals in the first half.  Jake Reynolds (Scituate, Mass.) played the final 30 minutes, making 10 saves.

For Amherst, Quinn Moroney led all players with eight points on six assists and two goals, while Kane Haffery scored four goals and posted a pair of assists.  Cody Tranbarger was strong between the pipes, totaling 17 saves and Brian O'Malley caused three turnovers.

The Pride opened up the game with tremendous energy and jumped out to a 2-0 lead just under five minutes into the contest on goals from Dean and Sheehan.  Amherst answered back with Haffey's first strike of the game, only to have the hosts push their lead to three as Sheehan connected from eight years out and Tim Cozens (Ridgefield, Conn.) dodged down the right alley and finished on the run with 5:02 on the clock.

However, Amherst closed out the quarter with the final three goals, including a pair from Connor Sheehan to wrap up the first 15 minutes of play knotted at four-all.

The second quarter belonged to the visitors, as they outshot Springfield 16-7 and poured in six goals, including a pair of man-up markers, to own a 10-4 cushion at the half.  

Amherst continued their strong play in the third quarter and scored the first three goals of the stanza, pushing their unananswerd goal run to 12, as its lead ballooned to 13-4 with 4:11 on the clock.  Springfield scored its first goal in nearly 35 minutes when Tony LaGuerre (Shrub Oak, N.Y.) potted a feed from Sheehan for a man-up goal with one second left in the third.

The teams traded two goals apiece in the fourth, with Abate netting both of Springfield's goals to complete the 15-7 ball game.

Springfield will begin its New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) title defense when it heads to Babson on Saturday in a rematch of last year's NEWMAC Championship game.  Face-off is slated for 12:00 pm.