Box Score MISENHEIMER, N.C. — Jake Fritz and Cam Evangelho scored two goals, Kevin Powers had a goal and three assists and the Penguins were leading the 10th ranked NCAA Division II team in the nation, Pfeiffer University, in the second half. But the Falcons outscored Dominican 3-0 in the final period on their home field to prevail 9-6 in the non-conference game.

The Penguins (2-3) pushed a Pfeiffer team (6-1)  that earlier this week barely lost (9-8) to the No. 1 ranked United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association team in the country, Mercyhurst, before beating Colorado Mesa 12-10,  defending Western Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association champions who tied Dominican for first place last year.

By the time the Penguins conclude their four-game road trip by playing top-ranked Mercyhurst, defending national tournament semifinalist, on Tuesday in Erie, Pa., they should have a clear idea how good they are and how they stack up against the competition this season in their conference and across the country. Yet, the Penguins also understand that they have room for improvement and realize moral victories don't count in the win column.

“We battled hard, but once again our decision-making hurt us,” Webster said. “Low percentage passes and really unintelligent penalties make it hard to win, but I believe our young team is learning and improving from these tough losses and that should be our focus right now as we move on to the next one."

Offensively, the Penguins, led by Powers' six shots, outshot the Falcons 29-25 in the contest and Dylan Acevedo won 11 of the 14 face-offs. But Dominican couldn't take advantage of numerous man-up opportunities.

 “To score only six goals and to go three-of-10 on extra-man is unacceptable and that's on me as the coach to find better ways to generate higher quality shots,” Webster said.

Defensively, Dominican limited Pfeiffer's leading scorer James Shepherd (16 goals and 23 points in his first six games) to one goal and only three shots.  Goalkeeper Sean Donahue had 13 saves for the Penguins, seven of them by the midway mark of the second period.

“Our defense played the way they're capable of, except for a few hiccups that we'll improve on, but they gave us a chance to win,” Webster said.

Playing for the second game without the injured Jake Bernstein, Dominican stunned the Falcons by jumping to a 2-0 lead in the first period, which has been Pfeiffer's most dominating quarter this season, seeing the Falcons had outscored their foes 23-5 in the opening period of their previous six games.  Fritz, a sophomore, scored first then senior co-captain Evangelo struck with a man-up goal 38 seconds later at the 8:16 mark.

After the Penguins missed a number of scoring opportunities in the second period – a Cody Bernstein shot hit the post and the Dominican couldn't capitalize on a one-minute man-up situation – the Falcons came back and took the lead 4-2. The Penguins ended Pfeiffer's four answered goal streak late in half when a Powers' pass set by freshman Grant Clifford for a goal.

Powers tied the game at 4-4 just 39 seconds into the third period after Acevedo won his ninth face-off in 11 chances to start the second half. Dominican then regained the lead for the last time, 5-4 on Evangelho's second man-up goal of the game and Powers' second assist at the 11:39 mark of the third period.

Pfeiffer responded by re-grabbing the lead, but Fritz netted his second goal of the contest with 38 seconds remaining  in the third period to send the game to the fourth period tied at 6-6.