ALBION, Mich. — The Albion men's lacrosse team fended off Southwestern from the Austin area of Texas, 12-11, in their first annual Harper Strong Classic.

Prior to the game, the team honored the family of Harper Mathis — a teenager who passed away from a rare form of brain cancer that the team had adopted as one of their own.

Both squads traded goals in the first 10 minutes of the game and alternated scoring, as it was tied 3-3. However, the Britons got a three-goal cushion in a matter of two and a half minutes with scores from Cal Stearns, TJ Antonino and Luke Schuemann. The Pirates added another goal to make it 6-4 at the end of the first.

Albion notched three more goals in the third, courtesy of Carson Farkas and twice from Schuemann and made it 9-5 at the intermission.

The Britons led by as many as five in the third, with Stearns and Farkas scoring but Southwestern made a push and made it a three-goal game, 11-8, at the conclusion of the third.

Stearns added Albion's final goal with 6:31 left in the game. Despite the Pirates scoring the contest's final three goals, the Britons held on for the victory and played stout defense on the potential game-tying possession with less than 30 seconds left.

Albion cashed in on both of their man-up opportunities, while the Pirates failed on all six of their attempts.

Schuemann notched four goals, while Stearns added a hat trick and two assists. Stearns also became the third player in program history to have 150 goals in a career and the fifth to post 200 career points.

Up Next
The Britons will head to Dubuque to take on the Spartans on Wednesday, March 11 at 6 p.m. EST. Former Britons assistant coach, TJ Thomas, is in his first season as Dubuque's head coach.