ALFRED, NY—The Alfred University men's lacrosse team (13-4, E8 5-3) was downed in the ECAC Finals, 14-13, by Western New England University despite taking a 10-7 lead heading into half time Sunday afternoon at Yunevich Stadium in Alfred, NY.  Senior Nicolas Wood (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua) netted his 100^th career goal in his final game at Alfred University.
 
Freshman Jake Lynch (Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Point) scored his second hat trick in as many days to pace the Saxons offense in the final game of the season.  Wood, sophomore John Winchell (Vestal, NY/Vestal), sophomore Derek Bishopp (Livonia, NY/Livonia), and sophomore Nick Skibitsky (Buffalo, NY/Williamsville East) scored two goals, each.  Sophomore Keenan Denis (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) and junior Tanner Morse (Corning, NY/Corning East) also added a goal each.  The Golden Bears were led by Justin Bard with six goals and three assists.
 
Winchell paced the Saxons with four assists on the afternoon while Morse added two.  Bishopp and Skibitsky had one assist, each. 
 
In the opening minutes the Golden Bears jumped out to a 3-1 lead, but that was quickly erased by the surging Saxons offense throughout the rest of the first quarter.  With 2:16 to go in the opening quarter, Bishopp sheared through the WNE defense and netted a man-down goal and grabbed the lead for AU, 4-3.
 
The second quarter seemed it would be the same as the first, as both teams answered one another's' goals.  However, the Saxons were able to rattle off four goals in a row (two man-up goals) to put a little cushion between them and the Golden Bears.  In the final 3:17 of the half, WNE would outscore AU 2-1, but the Saxons remained in the lead 10-7 at half time.
 
The Golden Bears came out in the second half fired up and scored five unanswered goals to start the third stanza and grabbed the lead 12-10.  Finally, AU closed the gap with 4:51 to go in the quarter as Lynch scored his hat trick in the game.
 
In the final period, AU tied it up when Wood netted his 100^th career goal with 11:16 to go.  WNE scored two more goals at the 10:06 and 3:17 marks to put a little distance between them and the Saxons.  However, AU scored with 22 ticks left on the clock when Skibitsky found the back of the net on a man-up goal.  The Saxons would lose the ensuing face-off, but quickly caused a turnover and counter struck the Golden Bears.  Wood received the ball in front of the net with three seconds to go and spun around the defender and ripped his shot low and hard.  However, WNE's Steven Kerr dropped to his knees and parried the shot away to seal the victory for the Golden Bears, 14-13.
 
Sophomore Jimmy Pratti (Minisink, NY/Minisink Valley) won 14-of-29 face-offs in the game and led AU with eight groundballs. Sophomore Chris Deisenroth (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) accumulated four groundballs in the contest. Junior Max Wilson (Menlo Park, CA/Menlo-Atherton) set the game-high standard in caused turnovers with four.
 
At the close of the 2015 season the Saxons remain at 13-4 as the ECAC Runner-Ups.