Center Valley, PA (May 1, 2024) - The DeSales University men's lacrosse team opened up a 6-0 lead and scored three straight goals to end the third quarter and start the fourth quarter to earn an 11-9 win over Arcadia University in the MAC Freedom Semifinals on Wednesday evening.

The Basics

• Final Score: DeSales - 11, Arcadia - 9
• Records: DeSales (11-6 overall); Arcadia (10-8 overall)
• It is DSU's fourth straight win over the Knights improving the Bulldogs to 9-3 all-time in the series.
• DeSales advances to the MAC Freedom Championship game for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
• The Bulldogs will travel to top seeded, Stevens, with start time set for 1:00 pm.

How it Happened

• DeSales dominated the start of this one out-scoring Arcadia, 4-0, in the first quarter and tallied the first two goals of the second quarter to take a 6-0 lead.
• Arcadia rallied scoring six of the next seven goals to end the half, trailing by just one at the halftime break (7-6).
• The Knights tied the score midway thru the third quarter but junior Nate Perry broke the string with a man-up goal with 1:04 left in the third quarter to give the Bulldogs an 8-7 lead.
• First-year DJ Verkade and senior Beau Neff scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter to give DeSales a 10-7 lead and continued to lead by three after a tally from first-year Griffin Adams with 6:37 to go.
• The Bulldogs defense did the rest holding the Knights to just one more goal to provide the final margin.

Top Bulldog Performers

• Perry and Verkade each had three goals to lead the scoring.
• Senior Colin Adams had a goal and three assists and first-year Griffin Adams scored twice.
• Junior Anthony Gash won 12-of-20 faceoffs and had seven ground balls along with one goal.
• Senior TJ Herron had two assists and senior Beau Neff one goal and one assist.
• Senior TJ Lowe made nine saves in between the pipes.

For the Foes

• Kyle McLaughlin led the Knights with four goals.
• Dylan Garber added two goals and one assist.

Inside the Box Score

• Both teams had 40 shots, while the Bulldogs had a 29-22 advantage in ground balls.
• DeSales scored three man-up goals and help Arcadia to 0-for-6 in man-up chances.