FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart men's lacrosse team fell to 0-2 in the Northeast Conference Saturday night after a 19-16 loss to the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers at Campus Field.

Freshman midfield Max Tuttle led all scorers with seven goals and eight points. Brian Masi added five points on four goals and an assist. Midfielders Joseph Choiniere and Nick Albanese each had a team-high four groundballs, as Chase Godfrey had three groundballs and three caused turnovers. 

Sacred Heart (2-7, 0-2 NEC) and Mount St. Mary's (5-3, 1-1 NEC) played to a 2-2 tie in the first quarter, as Bryce Jurk tied the game with 0:26 left in the opening period. Alex Dodge tied the game 3-3 at the 11:32 mark of the second quarter, getting an assist from Sean Patterson. The Mountaineers pulled away with a 4-0 run halfway through the second as an Evan Gormley tally at the 4:46 mark gave the Mount a 7-3 lead. Jurk scored five seconds later to make the score 7-4, followed by Masi's first goal with 2:17 left to get SHU within two 7-5. The Mountaineers took an 8-5 lead at halftime as Spencer Smith beat the buzzer.

Mount St. Mary's outscored the Pioneers 8-2 in the third quarter to take a 16-7 lead. SHU opened the fourth quarter on a 3-0 run with goals by Tuttle, Masi, and Joe Saggese getting the Pioneers within six, 16-10. After Chris DiPretoro put Mount back up seven with 9:21 to play, Masi and Tuttle combined for a 4-0 run to make the score 17-14 with 5:52 remaining. Mount St. Mary's and Sacred Heart would trade goals the rest of the way.

The Mountaineers outshot the Pioneers 45-41 and held a 41-31 advantage in groundballs. SHU forced 17 Mount St. Mary's turnovers while committing 15. Smith led Mount St. Mary's with four goals and five points. DiPretoro and Ryan Lamon each had four points. Goalie Matt Vierheller made six saves, while the SHU tandem of Greg Price and William Crepeault combined for 12.

The Pioneers are back in action on Tuesday, April 5 when SHU travels to New Haven to take on #1 Yale at 7 p.m.

FIRST QUARTER

- SHU led 1-0 on Tuttle's goal at the 10:55 mark, assisted by Alex Dodge.

- The Mount outshot SHU 11-9 in the quarter. 

SECOND QUARTER 

- Patterson's assist on Dodge's goal at the 11:32 mark was his first career assist.

- The Mountaineers went on a 4-0 run over 9:50.

THIRD QUARTER

- Julian Garritano scored his second man-up goal of the season at the 11:23 mark. Reed Avveduti assisted for his first point of the year. 

FOURTH QUARTER

- Tuttle scored five of his seven goals in the fourth quarter.

- SHU opened the quarter on a 7-1 run in the first 9:08.