ALMA, MI—Franciscan men's lacrosse suffered offensively from missing players and had a slow start in their 16-3 loss against Alma College but saw promise in several young defensive players.

Following a week of on and off bad weather and a six and a half hour ride to Alma, the Barons were faced with yet another challenge when leading scorer and face-off man Mark Hanlon was injured in warmups prior to the game. Already missing offensive starter, freshman Mike Rosaschi, the team struggled to find their footing in an especially difficult first quarter as Alma took a 8-0 lead.

"If we had practiced all week outside in the weather and been completely prepared, they would have won, that's how good they were," head coach Pete Rosaschi said. "We didn't come out very strong, but they were a very strong team, well coached, and they came out on fire."

The FUS defense stemmed the tide in the second quarter, allowing only half as many goals, but it was not until the third quarter that their own offense began to find the net. Sophomore middie Paul Modzelewski headed up the charge, scoring two goals to Alma's one in the quarter.

The Barons' third goal of the night was a dodge down the right alley and shot on the run by senior midfielder Peter Herrmann.

"That was a beautiful goal, right in front of our bench," Rosaschi said. "We're very proud of him."

While the Barons had a difficult time offensively, losing majority of the face-offs for the first time this season, extensive turnovers, and tallying up 11 shots to Alma's 55, Rosaschi said the defense had a better night.

"William Scott and Matt Wessel played an outstanding game on defense," Rosaschi said. "When you lose like this it's hard to be positive but there were two or three guys who did a great job that we were really impressed with."

The defensive squad finished 7-10 in clears and kept Alma 0-5 on man-ups throughout the night.

The main problem of the night, Rosaschi said, came down to missing key components of the attacking line.

"When you have a starting offensive player out and you've lost your faceoff guy and leading scorer, it's going to be a really, really tough game. With a small roster, we can't afford that," Rosaschi said. "We lost the ground balls, and only hit 11 shots. It just shows you that our offense was just not there tonight."

As the team prepares for tomorrow's game against Milwaukee Engineering College at 1pm at Alma, Rosaschi said they have one strategy:

"Pizza and ice up," he said.