BOX SCORE

BELMONT, Calif. — The Dominican University of California men's lacrosse team dropped a close decision to Notre Dame de Namur University on Saturday afternoon, falling 9-8.

NDNU (6-3) struck first, taking advantage of an extra-man situation to score the lone goal of the first quarter. The Argonauts added a second goal to start the second quarter before Jim Little connected with Corey Botwinick for the first Dominican (2-7) goal. The Argonauts came out firing in the second half, tallying two quick goals to extend the Argo lead to 4-1. Botwinick, who hadn't played since the first game of the season, added another goal from Little in the third quarter but NDNU cancelled that goal with another score 30 seconds later. Cam Evangelho and Little scored, and Botwinick tallied a hat trick with his third goal to send the two teams knotted at 5-5 going into the final quarter.

Evangelho put the Penguins in front for the first time with a goal with 10 minutes to play. The Dominican lead lasted nearly seven minutes until NDNU scored back-to-back goals to regain the lead with just over two and a half minutes to play. Reed Upson found Zach Rodriguez while up a man to pull within a goal with just a minute to play. NDNU's Greg Bearson scored a crucial insurance goal with 44 seconds to play. Evangelho scored his third goal of the day with 20 seconds left on the clock but time would run out on the Penguins.

Dominican's Sam Darrow and NDNU's Jesse Wilkerson each played the full 60 minutes in goal. Darrow matched Wilkerson save-for-save but allowed one more shot to slip by for a goal.

Upson and Little each dished out a pair of assists in the loss, and Rodriguez added an assist.

Kevin Nguyen led the Argos with a hat trick. Bearson and Derek Kimbrough each scored twice.

The Penguins, who lost an earlier season matchup to NDNU 21-11, showed improvement across the board despite the outcome. The Penguins took just three less shots (32-29), cleared the ball 14 times compared to 15 by NDNU, and took advantage of two extra-man opportunities while NDNU capitalized just once.

"Once again we didn't shoot the ball very well, not to take anything from their goalie, who played terrific as did ours," said Dominican Head coach Ned Webster. "But I'm proud of this team and the progress we're making as a program."

Dominican looks to avenge another close loss when they host Grand Canyon University on Friday, April 16. The 'Lopes edged the Penguins 12-11 earlier in the season. Faceoff at Forest Meadows Field is slated for 4:00 p.m.