VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Skidmore College men's lacrosse team put up a valiant fight early, but a run by No. 17 Stevens late led to a 16-9 defeat, in non-league action Tuesday evening.
 
The Thoroughbreds (3-3) will next return to Wachenheim Field and Liberty League action on Saturday, hosting Clarkson at 3 p.m. Stevens, ranked 17^th in the latest USILA Division III Poll, improves to 4-1.
 
Senior Jack Curry led the Thoroughbreds with three points on a pair of goals and an assist. Fellow senior Brendan Halloran added a pair of goals, while sophomore Will Lukas tallied a goal and an assist. Senior Ryan Warnock, juniors Eric Megnia and Colby Farnham, and first-year Jason Shlonsky also scored. Seniors RJ Caruso and Cody Legeza added assists.  Junior Alex Towey added a pair of caused turnovers to lead the Skidmore defense. Senior Chris Baughan grabbed 14 saves in the loss.
 
Tommy Dawson scored seven points on four goals and three assists to lead the Ducks. John Boutureira added a hat-trick with an assist for four points. Carson White made eight saves in the victory.
 
Skidmore hung with the No. 16 team in the country for most of the match, matching Stevens goal for goal through much of the first half. With time ticking away and the Thoroughbreds trailing 3-2 in the first quarter, Farnham took advantage of a man-up Skidmore opportunity, scoring with 14 ticks left to tie the game at three after one. Caruso fed Farnham for the assist. In the second, Stevens would take leads of 4-3 and 5-4, but Halloran answered with goals to keep Skidmore even. The Ducks would score the final two goals of the half in the final 4:42 to take a 7-5 lead into halftime.
 
Stevens opened the second half scoring just 17 seconds in, getting a goal from Brendan Monteleone. Curry would strike at the 12:13 mark, breaking the Stevens 3-0 run, as the Ducks led 8-6. Stevens would threaten to break the game open with another 3-0 run, but once again, Skidmore would claw back, scoring a pair of goals on shots by Shlonsky and Lukas. The fourth quarter would open with a Stevens goal in the first five seconds, giving the Ducks a 12-8 lead. Warnock would respond just five seconds later; the senior won the faceoff, getting down the field quickly and unleashing a shot that got past the Stevens goalie.
 
Over the next three minutes, Skidmore controlled the ball on the Stevens end, threatening another rally. Unfortunately for the Thoroughbreds, the Stevens defense held up, eventually pulling away on the other end with four straight goals to end the contest.
 
Stevens outshot Skidmore 46-29 in the contest, including a 30-17 advantage in shots on goal.  Both teams were even at the face-off "X", splitting 28 draws. Skidmore held Stevens scoreless in two extra-man opportunities, while the Thoroughbreds converted once on five man-up chances. Skidmore converted on 13-of-21 clear attempts, while Stevens went 15-for-23.