STEUBENVILLE, Ohio—Franciscan University of Steubenville's men's lacrosse team faced off against the University of Mount Union at home, losing 27-2. The Baron's came out determined, but FUS' low numbers due to injuries proved too tough to overcome.

"Our team came in light," head coach Pete Rosaschi said. "Our starting middie and two of our defenders were out with injuries."

The Barons pushed past their shortage of numbers and tried to hold their own in the first quarter but found themselves down 5-0 after 15 minutes. Despite being dragged down by turnovers in the first quarter, the Barons came out more aggressively in the second quarter.

FUS midfielder Sean Wayne won the faceoff to start the quarter and attackman Ryan Zbikowski was able to find midfielder Sebastian Olsen whose crank-shot found its way just inside the left side of the frame for the Baron's first goal. Zbikowski's pass from X found Olsen waiting to score.

"It is pretty difficult to create an offensive lineup in January and expect the guys to be automatically in sync," Rosaschi said. "But in this second quarter our minds started to settle down, and we had some really nice offensive play."

Less than a minute after Olsen's goal, Zibikowski shot and connected, bringing the score to 5-2. The play came from an assist by attackman Patrick McNamara. Unfortunately, Mount Union answered back and started to slam goalie Evan Malchano, scoring seven goals despite Malchano's best efforts and ending the first half 12-2.

"Evan has been dealing with a tough knee injury," Rosaschi said. "But he keeps working through it."

After saving 18 shots through the first three quarters, Malchano had to come out to serve a one minute penalty. Not having another goalie, FUS senior attack Patrick McNamara volunteered to take over in goal and stayed in net for the ailing Malchano for the rest of the game. Despite having no goalie experience, MacNamara was able to save three shots in a courageous effort.

"There are not many goalies out there," Rosaschi said. "It takes a lot of courage to stand in front of a ball coming at you at upwards of 80 mph. Pat stepped up and made some nice saves."

Despite Franciscan's low score, coach Rosaschi is seeing improvements in players such as seniors Joseph VanDevere and Austin Jones, who both spent more time on the field than usual.

"Joseph is a tough kid," Rosaschi said about the defensive midfielder and faceoff man. "He hustles and he's tenacious. Austin too is improving in his man-to-man defense, his reaction to slides, and his understanding of where he should be."

The Barons will look to bounce back from the loss as they travel to Baldwin Wallace on April 6 at 4 pm.

"There is no magic to this," Rosaschi said. "We just keep growing over time and gaining confidence."