FINAL SCORE: Mount St. Joseph 11, Earlham 8
LOCATION: Cincinnati, Ohio (Schueler Field)
RECORDS: Earlham 1-12, 0-4 HCLC / Mount St. Joseph 4-6, 1-2 HCLC

CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Earlham College men's lacrosse team was unable to recover from a late three-goal surge from Mount St. Joseph, and the Quakers dropped an 11-8 decision to the Lions on Wednesday evening at Schueler Field.

Tied 5-5 at the half, Earlham took the lead on Avery Rush-Elias' goal just 1:46 into the third quarter off an assist from Jason Slain.

Mount St. Joseph scored 13 seconds later to tie the game at 6-6, but the Lions' lead was short-lived as Logan Reihing notched his third goal of the night at the 9:56 mark of the third quarter to vault the Quakers into a 7-6 lead.

The Quakers held their lead until the 1:47 mark when the Lions' Jesse Robinson scored to tie the game at 7-7 heading into the fourth quarter.

Neither team was able to gain an advantage over the first five minutes of the final frame until a Bryce Smith shot found its way past Earlham goalie Steven Shaughnessy to put Mount St. Joseph in front, 8-7. The Lions extended their lead to 9-7 just under two minutes later on Nathaniel Bird's man-up goal.

Rush-Elias scored his second of the night with 5:35 remaining on the game clock, cutting the MSJ lead to 9-8. However the Lions tacked on two insurance goals in the final minute to clinch the win.

Reihing scored twice in the first half on his way to finishing the game with three goals. Rush-Elias had an assist to go with his two goals to tally three points versus the Lions, and both Slain and Cameron Jackson each charted a goal and an assist for two points.

Mount St. Joseph outshot Earlham, 42-20, but the Quakers outworked the Lions in ground balls, 32-23. The Quakers were 13-of-20 on clear opportunities.

Shaughnessy finished the night with 15 saves, third-most in a single game this season.

Smith led Mount St. Joseph with five goals while Bird had three goals.

Earlham finished its 2021 season with a 1-12 overall record.