NORTH CANTON, Ohio—Franciscan University men's lacrosse welcomed a valuable offensive member while taking on Division II Walsh University but was unable to solidify time of possession in the 19-5 loss.

The most difficult quarter of the night for the Barons was the first, in which Walsh scored seven goals and held FUS scoreless. Just 46 seconds into the second quarter however, junior David Erskine made good on an assist by sophomore Paul Modzelewski to put the Barons first goal of the night in the net.

The second quarter proved to be the most productive for the green and gold as newcomer Jonas McCaig scored their second goal and assisted Erskine to score a third. Defensively, the team held Walsh to two less goals than in the first quarter, making the halftime score 12-3.

The second half was also more manageable for the Barons. McCaig and senior captain Peter Herrmann combined for two more goals, while Walsh put in another seven to make the final score of the half 7-2.

"We came out slow," head coach Pete Rosaschi said. "But this was a high caliber, quality DII team, and we knew that coming in here. Putting up five goals against them I thought was fantastic."

Rosaschi added that the Barons 22 turnovers in relation to Walsh's 18 were another encouraging statistic.

"I'm very proud of the guys: one, that they hung in there with this team the way they did, and two, that our turnovers were so few," Rosaschi said.

The Baron offense, which in recent games has suffered from a dwindling roster, profited from the addition of McCaig, who, along with his two shots and one assist, contributed three ground balls and two caused turnovers.

Rosaschi also said that the work of the Baron defensive middies kept the offensive middies from Walsh in check most of the game.

"I thought they played their best game of the season," Rosaschi said. "It was really cool to see that against a DII team. Hopefully it will build a little confidence for us."

Two key areas for work were ground balls and clears. FUS finished with just 16 ground balls to Walsh's 39 and only converted on 6 of 15 clear attempts. This, along with their continued faceoff struggles without freshman Mark Hanlon, severely limited possessions for the Barons.

"Today just shows you that you can't just pick up a ground ball. It's not that simple. There's a certain amount of lacrosse IQ and desire, so we need to work on that," Rosaschi said. "We'll also be working on clears."

Rosaschi said he is hoping to have the team together and healthy again for their rescheduled game against Bethany College but that in the meantime they will be working with the mindset of defeating their Division III competition .

"We should be finishing on a strong note," Rosaschi said.

The Barons' next game is on Friday, April 24 at 4pm against Bethany at home.