DUBUQUE, Iowa - The University of Dubuque men's lacrosse team was looking to build on their momentum from earlier this week when they took down Concordia University on Wednesday afternoon by a final score of 9-5 to cap off their first win of the season. On a very cold and chilly Saturday afternoon, the Spartans hosted the Benedictine University Eagles who come in with a record of 1-2 on the year. The Eagles started the game off hot as they built a five goal lead, but the fight in the Spartans brought them all the way back to tie it in the second half 7-7 before the Eagles surged to the 7-11 victory at Oyen Field.

The cold temps seemed to not bother the Eagles as they would grab an early five goal lead with Jordan Chock for the Eagles scoring three of the first five goals. The Spartans would find the back of the net early in the second quarter as Giovanni Silva scored off the assist from Alex Smith. The Spartans tacked on two more goals before the half and the Eagles added another to take a 6-3 lead at intermission. The Spartans would score four goals in the first 11 minutes of the third quarter to tie the Eagles 7-7 after trailing by as many as five goals earlier in the contest. From there on out, the Eagles defense was too much for the Spartans and they would manage to tack on four more goals to secure the victory over the Spartans. 

Three Spartans led the way in scoring as Zach Schmitt, Sam Todd, and Giovanni Silva each added two goals. Ben Farraday added the other goal for the Spartans. Nikolas Wortman won 12-19 face offs for the Spartans and Erik Ramirez was 3-4. Ryan Gartner took the loss, but saved 13 shots with five coming in the fourth quarter. The Spartans collected 29 ground balls compared to only 19 for the Eagles. 

UP NEXT 
The Spartan men's lacrosse team will be on the road next Wednesday, March 16 at 7:00 p.m. as they travel south for a matchup with Augustana College (IL).