Box Score ALBION -- An early deficit was too much to overcome, as the Albion College men's lacrosse team fell in the MIAA Championship game, 19-13 to Hope College. At the conclusion of the tournament, the Britons stand at 13-2 overall, with both losses coming to Hope.
Albion struck first just 58 seconds in, when Sam Puzevic found Jace Conley to open the scoring. Two goals by the Flying Dutch were followed by a strike from Puzevic.
After the Puzevic goal, Hope went on a 9-0 run, building their lead to 11-2 with 6:10 before the half.
Two goals by Puzevic and another from Conley briefly stopped the bleeding, as Albion trailed 11-5 at the half.
The Flying Dutch stormed out of the half with three straight goals, pushing the lead back to nine. Heading into the final period, the Britons were facing a 16-9 deficit.
Goals from Brock Yabs and Gerald Haadsma to open the fourth put the Britons down by five, but as they did all night, the Flying Dutch had an answer.
Puzevic and Conley finished the night with three goals and one assist each. Rottell had a career night. The freshman finished with two goals and five assists -- adding to his conference lead.
Chad Burton caused six turnovers, while Joey Tatar caused four.
Senior Josh Luketic was phenomenal in goal, making plenty of hustle plays and forcing Hope into turnovers. Luketic made 13 saves for Albion.
In a sloppy game for Albion, the Britons committed 23 turnovers and struggled from the face off X.
The Britons will await their future to see if they will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The selection show will take place on May 9 and 9 p.m. on ncaa.com.