SCRANTON, Pa. — The Catholic University men's lacrosse team dropped a conference game on its travels to Scranton on Saturday afternoon.

The Cardinals got off to a great start as Matt Ford found the net just 55 seconds in. Catholic opened up a 3-0 lead in the first five minutes courtesy of tallies from Ian Wick and John Hadden, but Scranton powered back, producing a 5-0 run of its own to grab the lead. Cullen Lotz scored with just 20 seconds remaining in the quarter to cut the deficit to one before Matthew McAree beat the buzzer for Scranton to make it 6-4.

The second quarter was a tight one as the team combined for only three goals. Hadden pulled the Cardinals within one at the 8:00 minute mark before Scranton scored twice to take an 8-5 lead into halftime.

The Royals pulled away after halftime, riding a strong defense to the victory. Dezelic, Lotz and Fitz McLaughlin managed Catholic's only goals of the second half as Scranton outscored the Cardinals 8-3 following halftime.

Ford added three ground balls to his goal while defender Mason Russo showed well, scooping up five ground balls and causing one turnover. Erik Aulbach also grabbed three ground balls.

The Cardinals will look to respond next time out against Goucher. Catholic will battle the Gophers on Wednesday night, with opening face-off at Beldon Field in Towson set for 7 p.m.