The Oglethorpe men's lacrosse team fell behind the visiting Piedmont Lions early Wednesday night at the Oglethorpe Track and Field and never could catch up, eventually suffering their first loss of the season 15-4. The defeat dropped the Stormy Petrels to 2-1 on the young season.

The Petrels fell behind the Lions, who earned a spot in the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship in 2019 as the USA South conference champions, 3-0 over the opening quarter of play, then withstood the opening Oglethorpe goal from freshman attackman Darius Reliford and went on a four-goal spur to end the half up 7-1.

The Lions scored three more goals in the third quarter without an Oglethorpe answer, allowing them to accumulate seven consecutive goals bridged between the second and third quarters. Oglethorpe did perk up offensively in the fourth quarter, though. They got a marker from freshman attackman Jazz Washington off an assist from senior attackman Cam Ritter with 12:11 to go, then Ritter added an unassisted tally of his own less than a minute later to make the score 11-3. Washington added the final goal of the game, as well, with under a minute left.

The Oglethorpe freshman led the team with two goals on the evening, while sophomore goalie Addison Irwin totaled 19 saves on 34 shots on goal faced. 

The Petrels forced 20 Piedmont turnovers, won 10 of 22 faceoffs, and were successful on 16 of 22 clear attempts. However, they committed 27 turnovers of their own while allowing 61 total shots, 44 ground balls, and a 3 of 9 mark on Piedmont extra-man opportunities. The Petrels also accrued 11 penalty minutes on 12 infractions while the Lions collected just 1:30 on two penalties.

Oglethorpe returns to action Sunday afternoon when they host Centenary (Louisiana) at 1 p.m. from the Oglethorpe Track and Field. They'll then hit the road for a pair of contests against South region opponents, Huntingdon and Greensboro.