BOSTON, Mass. - The Emerson Men's Lacrosse team came up short in an intense matchup against the Wheelock Wildcats that went into overtime. The Wildcats found themselves victorious in OT with a final score of 9-0. The Emerson Lions drop to 0-7 overall, while Wheelock rises to 5-3 on the season.  

Wheelock opened the scoring, 1-0, with a goal by Brendan Nardone, but the Lions answered and finished the quarter tied with the Wildcats 2-2, thanks to goals by sophomore Diego Rosende, and senior Nicholas Kitsos.  

The second quarter was just as evenly matched, ending in a 4-4 tie.  Wheelock received two goals in the quarter from midfielder Eddie Romero, who finished with six goals on the day,  and Emerson saw goals from Austin Max, and another from Rosende, who finished with four tallies in the game.

In the third quarter, Wheelock's Keenan Brown scored the only man-up goal of the game, resulting from a holding call on Emerson defender Daniel Terry.  The third quarter also saw the third goal on the night for both Rosende and Romero, and a goal from Emerson midfielder Conor Judge.

The Lions won the fourth quarter, 2-1 but it wasn't enough against the persistent Wildcats Offense.  Despite a late goal from Emerson's Jack Bushell in the fourth, the Lions and Wildcats needed an overtime period to decide this clash.  The game's regulation periods ended in an 8-8 tie.  

The overtime period ended in a nail-biter.  After Emerson won the faceoff for the first possession, a wide shot from the Lions forced a turnover. This caused a fast break on the Emerson defense, allowing Romero to capitalize scoring the overtime winner, his sixth of the day. The Wildcats bested the Lions, and journeyed back to the Fens victorious in this cross-town matchup.   

Defending the net for the Lions was freshman Bailey Kennedy who made 9 saves on 18 shots. In cage for the Wildcats was Noah Horning who made 10 saves on 18 shots.

Stat leaders for the Lions include faceoff-man Fernando Gutierrez, who has a 79% success rate on the year, going 19-21 on the day. He also had 15 ground balls. Lead scorer for the Lions was Rosende with four.

Leaders for Wheelock include Midfielder Eddie Romero with six goals. Rounding out the Wildcat offense was Brendan Nardone with 2 goals. He also tied Gary Broad in ground balls with 6.

The Lions continue the season with their first NEWMAC conference game against Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Saturday at 1:00pm

Wheelock's next game is also Saturday as they travel to Daniel Webster College for a 3:00pm contest.