ASTON, Pa. - The Immaculata University men's lacrosse team went into Neumann in search of its first Atlantic East Conference win, and despite going into halftime tied at five apiece, the Macs came up short to the Knights, 15-11. Steve Long and Ethan Johnson each recorded hat tricks for the Macs, as long Long finished the day with a team-high four goals and six points.

James Barretta netted two goals and assists on two others for four points in the effort.

HOW IT HAPPENED
-The Macs fell into an early two-goal deficit in the first five minutes of Wednesday's matchup, but Barretta got IU on the board with an unassisted tally at the 5:57 mark of the first quarter.
-Neumann held a 4-1 lead in the opening stages of the second quarter, but Long netted his first of four on the afternoon to cut the deficit to two before Johnson and Cole Metzger made it three-straight scores to knot the contest at four-all with just over nine minutes remaining in the half. Trailing by one with a minute left in the half, Johnson found the back of the net again on off a pass from Metzger to send the two sides to the break tied at five.
-Just under five minutes into the second half, Bobby Bausman gave the Macs their first lead of the day on an assist from Long, but Neumann answered right back with five-straight scores to take back the lead at 10-6. Long and Barretta followed up with tallies within two minutes of each other to get the Macs within two, but the Knights outscored IU 4-3 in the final quarter to pick up the Atlantic East victory, 15-11.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
-Goals: Long 4, Johnson 3, Barretta 2, Bausman/Metzger
-Assists: Long/Metzger/Barretta 2
-Points: Long 6, Barretta 4, Metzger/Johnson 3
-Ground Balls: Bausman 6, Long 5, Barretta 4
-Saves: States 11

TEAM COMPARISON
-Neumann held the advantage in shots, 41-29.
-The Macs forced 18 Knight turnovers and committed 16 of their own.
-IU finished the day 24-of-30 on clears, while Neumann was 18-of-21.

UP NEXT
Immaculata (2-7, 0-2 Atlantic East) travels to Wesley Saturday for an Atlantic East matchup at 1 p.m.