GAMBIER, Ohio – The Kenyon College and Ohio Wesleyan University men's lacrosse teams played an even game for the final three quarters of Saturday's conference contest at McBride Field. It was a 2-0 edge in the first quarter, however, that proved to be the difference in the Lords' 11-9 defeat.

Ohio Wesleyan (4-4, 2-0 NCAC) took control of the opening faceoff and got a goal from Derek Todd before one minute expired. A little more than four minutes later, the Battling Bishops doubled their lead with a goal from Conor Caffrey.

By the end of the quarter, Kenyon (3-4, 1-1 NCAC) was fortunate to trail by just two. Ohio Wesleyan outshot the Lords, 21-1, over those first 15 minutes, but Kenyon senior goalkeeper Gabriel Avis made seven saves to keep his club in the game.

After Ohio Wesleyan bumped its lead to 3-0 early in the second quarter, Robert Jacobs, another Kenyon senior stepped up. He tallied a man-up goal at the tail end of a Battling Bishops' offside penalty. Two minutes after that, Jacobs took a feed from junior Jonah Florence and scored again.

That sparked an offensive explosion that saw eight more goals scored over the final ten minutes of the quarter. Ohio Wesleyan rattled off three straight, only to be answered by three straight from Kenyon attackers Chris Ferraro, Emilio Sosa and Josh Galardi. The Battling Bishops then closed out the quarter with two more goals and an 8-5 halftime lead.

Both teams picked up the defensive intensity in the second half, resulting in a combined 19 turnovers and four failed clears. The Lords' forged through it and chalked up goals from Florence and Pierce Kraft to get to the fourth quarter trailing by just two.

Another goal from Jacobs, this one at the 13:29 mark of the final period, got Kenyon within one goal again, but the Lords just couldn't come up with the equalizer over the final 13 minutes. Ohio Wesleyan tallied two more goals from Todd, while Ian Griffith scored the final Kenyon goal.

Results of the first quarter aside, Ohio Wesleyan gained its advantage over Kenyon by winning 16-of-23 faceoffs and by getting to 38 groundballs, compared to 23 for the Lords.

Jacobs not only had the three goals for Kenyon, he also served up a trio of assists to finish with a team-high six points. Ferraro, Kraft and Florence all rang up two points on a goal and an assist apiece. At the other end of the field, Avis wound up with 13 saves and his first loss of the season.

Todd led the Battling Bishops with three goals, including the one that held up for the game-winner. Luke Leyden and Peter Hamblett chipped in with two goals each.

The Lords will look to get back in the win column next Saturday when they travel to Wabash College for a 1 p.m. conference game against the host Little Giants.