ALBION, Mich. – The Albion College men's lacrosse team topped Elmhurst College, 12-5 on Tuesday, Feb. 25 at Alumni Field. Down 3-1 early, the Britons (3-1, 0-0) answered triumphantly by going on an 11-2 scoring stretch to hand the Blue Jays (0-3, 0-0) their third loss of the season. For the Britons, this is their first 3-1 start since the 2015 campaign.

Elmhurst opened up the scoring netting two goals in the first ten minutes of play. Later in the period, junior Collin Bowers found senior Scott Shepard to put the Britons on the board. Halfway through the second quarter, sophomore Jace Conley lowered his head and muscled his way through the interior of the Blue Jay defense for the goal. 

Conley would get on the board once more with a smooth behind-the-back finish at the 4:06 mark. Shepard and Conley would each contribute another goal to take a 6-4 lead going into halftime.

Senior Jacob Swift picked up his sole goal of the night, using his off-hand in the process to give the Britons a two-goal lead. Elmhurst responded with a man-up score by Marcus Yandall to trail by one with 5:59 left in the third quarter.

From there on out, it was all Albion until the final whistle as the Britons finished on a 6-0 run including blanking the Blue Jays in the final period. The Purple and Gold scoring stanza was highlighted by a fast-break goal by sophomore Fernando Robison and freshman Steve Foran's first collegiate goal.

The Britons out-paced the Blue Jays in shots, 42-to-31, and shots on goal, 25-to-17. Albion also edged Elmhurst at the face-off X winning 11-of-19 draws. Elmhurst was more successful with a man-advantage going 1-for-3 compared to Albion's 0-for-3.

Conley wrapped-up his night scoring four goals and delivering two assists. Shepard registered a hat-trick with three goals and gave out one assist. Freshman Sam Puzevic acquired a pair of goals and picked up a groundball. Robison went 11-for-18 while gathering six groundballs. Sophomore Bear Nelson caused three turnovers and wrangled in four groundballs in the snow. Senior goalie Trevor McManus recorded a season-high 66.7% save percentage in net stopping 10-of-15 shots on goal.

"I felt like we were getting great looks on offense early, we just hit a bunch of pipes. There was nothing we had to adjust at halftime, we just had to keep shooting," explained Head Coach Jake DeCola. "One thing I'm really proud of was not only did we stick to the gameplan when we were down, but also stuck to it when we were ahead. That is a great sign of things to come."

The Albion College Men will wrap-up its homestand as they host Oberlin College on Saturday, Feb. 29 at 1 p.m. at Alumni Field. 

For the latest information on the team, follow @Albion_MLax on Twitter and Instagram. General athletics news can also be found @gobrits on Twitter, AlbionAthletics on Instagram and Albion College Athletics on Facebook.

Joe and Julie Serra have given a $5 million leadership gift to launch a fundraising initiative to make two dreams a reality at Albion College. The first is a newly expanded fitness and student activity facility at the site of the current Dow Recreation and Wellness Center. The second is a new or renovated competition facility for the volleyball, men's basketball and women's basketball teams that currently call Kresge Gymnasium home.

The College is continuing to raise funds in support of both projects. To learn more, call 517/629-0446 or email advancement@albion.edu