Firebirds Fall at No. 11 Molloy

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NY – The University of the District of Columbia men's lacrosse team was defeated by the No. 11 nationally-ranked Molloy College Lions, 22-13 on Saturday afternoon at DG Skelos Complex.

With today's loss to its 4^th nationally-ranked opponent this season, UDC falls to 2-8 overall and 1-6 in the vaunted East Coast Conference, while the Lions improved to 9-3 overall and 4-3 in league play.

The Firebirds struck first with a goal by sophomore midfielder Russel Lloyd (Political Science – Clifton, VA/Robinson Secondary), but Molloy reeled off five straight goals to end the period. Tom Engelhardt, who would finish the day with a program record-tying 13 points (eight goals, five assists) scored three of those five goals.

Up 5-2 heading into the 2^nd period, Molloy's Peter Clark extended the lead with a goal a little over two minutes in off of an assist by Joe Leonard. Nearly two minutes later, UDC junior midfielder Darien McPhail Millard (Psychology – East Windsor, NJ/Union County College) netted the first of his team-high three goals, followed less than a minute later by Lloyd's second goal of the day to make it a 6-4 game still early in the period. The Lions, however, would then rattle off the next three goals and five of the final six goals of the half to take an 11-5 advantage heading into intermission.

UDC came out strong to start the second half, as freshman midfielder Teilen Celentano (Accounting – Ottawa, ON/E.S.P. Louis-Riel), sophomore attack Brock Thompson-Marshall (Business Management – Sooke, BC/Claremont Secondary) and sophomore attack Chase Fraser (Elementary Education – Aldergrove, BC/Blue Ridge HS) each scored during a 3-1 run by the Firebirds to pull within 12-8 with under 12 minutes left in the 3^rd period. The high-powered Lions offense responded, however, as Engelhardt and Kevin Teresky each scored a pair of goals during a 7-1 run by Molloy which extended the lead to 19-9 to end the 3^rd period.

Molloy's Zach Antonette scored the first goal of the 4^th period at the 12:34 mark to give the Lions their largest lead of the afternoon, 20-9. UDC went on to out-score Molloy, 4-3 in the final period thanks to a pair of goals by senior Ben Taylor (Biology – New Westminster, BC/Simon Fraser University) and a goal apiece by Fraser and senior Zach Kjeldsen (Political Science – Salisbury, MD/Hobart), but it was too little too late as they fell by a nine-goal margin.

The Firebirds will wrap up the program's 2^nd season on Saturday, April 25^th at 7 p.m. vs. ECC foe Roberts Wesleyan. The game will be played at Georgetown Multi-Sport Field.