BRADENTON, Fla. – Wittenberg men's lacrosse dropped its first game of the season with an 8-4 loss to Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute at the IMG Academy during Spring Break action on Wednesday evening.

After falling behind 2-0 in the first quarter, the Tigers rallied to tie things up with goals from junior Sean Kelleher (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and senior Jack Bornhofen (Peachtree City, Ga./McIntosh), the latter coming early in the second quarter off an assist from sophomore Andrew Fuss (New Albany, Ohio/Gahanna Lincoln).

RPI went back ahead by two goals and again Wittenberg answered. Freshman Zach Shy (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) netted an unassisted goal and senior Jordan Shoger (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights) buried Fuss' second assist of the game shortly before halftime.

RPI scored one late in the second quarter to take a 5-4 lead into the break. From there, it was all Renssalaer as the Engineers tallied three more scores in the remaining 30 minutes.

Fuss finished with two assists to lead the offensive effort, while junior Riley Boehm (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) and junior John Haeling (Briarcliff, N.Y./Briarcliff) split the top spot in ground balls with three apiece.

Junior goalkeeper Jay Dolan (Andover, Mass./Phillips Andover) stopped 18 shots throughout the contest.

Wittenberg opens its home slate next with a 2 p.m. game against Otterbein on Tuesday, March 18, after it was rescheduled from Wednesday, Feb. 26, due to weather concerns.

John Strawn '07