DOYLESTOWN, PA – The Wilkes University men's lacrosse team outscored host Delaware Valley University 9-8 over the final 47 minutes of action but an 8-0 start by the Aggies proved the difference in the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) contest at Lipinski Field.

Wilkes dropped to 0-2 in the league and 2-8 overall with the loss. Delaware Valley improved to 2-0 in the MAC Freedom and 6-5 overall with the win.

The Aggies stormed out to an 8-0 lead as Jack Sprinkle scored four of the goals in the nine minutes of action in the first quarter. The Colonels were able to score the final three goals of the first quarter in the final two minutes as Tim Hartka (Phoenix, MD/Calvert Hall) scored his ninth goal of the season to snap the Aggies streak. Henry O'Connor (Baltimore, MD/Dulaney) and Austin Seames (Newton, NJ/Kittatinny Regional) then scored on the man up with assists from Luke Weakland (Sparks, MD/Hereford) and Dillon Kadis (McSherrystown, PA/Delone Catholic) respectively as the first quarter ended with DelVal up 8-3.

Weakland scored his team leading 11th goal of the season to start the second quarter as Wilkes had cut the deficit in half. The Aggies answered with a goal before Kadis scored to make it 9-5 with 11 minutes until halftime. A goal with just over three minutes left in the second quarter gave Delaware Valley the 10-5 lead at the break.

Seames scored his second of the game to open the third quarter with an assist from Colby Opromolla (Patterson, NY/Carmel). DelVal scored next then Kadis tallied his second of the contest as Opromolla assisted again to make it 11-7 with nine minutes to go in the third. The Aggies would answer with the final three goals of the quarter to lead by seven heading to the final 15 minutes.

Opromolla opened the scoring in the fourth and Jackson Casper (Bel Air, MD/Bel Air) scored next with an assist by Matthew Warns (Cutchogue, NY/Mattituck) to make the score 14-9 with just less than 11 minutes left. DelVal would score the final two goals of the contest to close the conference win.

The heavily flagged game saw 16 total penalties with the Colonels being called for 10 and the Aggies six. Wilkes was 2-for-6 on extra-man opportunities and Delaware Valley was 4-for-10.

The Aggies led 52-34 in shots, 34-18 in shots on goal, 43-25 in ground balls, and 16-9 in face offs. Wilkes was 13-for-19 on the clear and the Aggies were 13-for-17.

Kadis and Opromolla each had three-point games to lead the Colonels offense with Kadis scoring two and with one assist and Opromolla with one goal and two assists.

Sprinkle scored five goals for the Aggies while Cole Graeff (2 goals, four assists) and Chris Marren (3 goals, 3 assists) led the hosts with six points each.

Joseph Marino (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) made 18 saves for a .529 save percentage in the game for the Colonels. Ryley Savering earned the win for Delaware Valley as he made nine saves and had a .500 save percentage.

Marino and Tucker Parmer (Ephrata, PA/Ephrata) tied for the team lead with three ground balls for Wilkes while six different players had a caused turnover. Luke Wawrzynek (Harleysville, PA/Souderton Area) was 4-for-8 on face offs while Bradley Anacreon (Nesconset, NY/Sachem North) was 4-for-16 and Hunter Riley (Ballston Lake, NY/Shenendehowa Central) was 1-for-1.

Sean Mylod led DelVal with a game-high nine ground balls and four caused turnovers. Frederick Offenburge was 15-for-24 on faceoffs and Mylod was 1-for-1.

Wilkes continues MAC Freedom play on Wednesday hosting No. 20 Stevens Institute of Technology at 7:00 p.m. at Schmidt Stadium.