FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- Virginia Wesleyan College's men's lacrosse team outscored the University of Mary Washington Eagles 3-2 in the fourth quarter Saturday, but it wasn't enough.

Mary Washington held on to pull out an 8-7 non-conference victory in the season opener for both teams.  It was a reversal of last year's outcome, as VWC opened the season with a 6-5 win over the Eagles.

Mary Washington scored the first goal of the contest, but Virginia Wesleyan came back strong with goals by Travis Puls (Ellicott City, Md./Baltimore Mt. St. Joseph), Ryan McArthur (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Hebron) and Ross Kok (Fredericksburg, Va./Bethel Park, Pa.) to open up a 3-1 lead early in the second quarter.

The host Eagles answered with six straight goals however, opening up a 6-3 advantage.  Adam Nycz (East Aurora, N.Y./Iroquois) and Nick Northern (Fredericksburg, Va./Colonial Forge) came through with Marlin goals to close the gap to 6-5 with 10:47 remaining in the game, which was a back-and-forth battle to the final horn.

Nycz and Puls finished with two goals each for VWC.  Mark Bowler (Cary, N.C./Cary) and Kohl Meyer (Shawnee, N.J./Shawnee) scored two each for UMW.  Sophomore Mikey Connors (Horseheads, N.Y./Horseheads) had a standout day for the Marlins in face-offs, winning 13-of-18 overall.

UMW finished with a 33-30 advantage in shots, but VWC goalie Tyler Keech (Eldersburg, Md./Liberty)emerged for 10 saves.  Ryan Kleman (Fairfax, Va./Robinson) posted 15 saves for the Eagles.

Virginia Wesleyan competes again on Saturday, Feb. 19, at York College in Pennsylvania at 1 p.m.

--AMDG-