The Belmont Abbey men's lacrosse team fell to the visiting Wheeling Jesuit Cardinals 10-9 this afternoon at Alumni Field, in a game contested in a steady thunderstorm. Wheeling Jesuit improves to 5-3, while the Abbey slips to 2-5.

Trailing 6-3 at the half, the Crusaders outscored the Cardinals 6-4 in the second half, including a 3-1 margin in the fourth quarter. Belmont Abbey had several scoring chances in the last 30 seconds, including the final three ticks on the clock, but the Abbey could not put in the equalizer as time expired.

Belmont Abbey outshot the Cardinals 39-26 as Dave DiLuigi and Jedd Gardner both posted three goals, while Michael Brown had a pair. Joey Perruzzi had one. Brown and Douglas Lipka led the way with three assists, while Peruzzi had one.

John Miller led the Cardinals with three goals, while John Dunbar and Colin Jack had two. Jack Malone had one goal and game-high four assists, while Kyle Lucas and Eric Jenkins both had one goal.

Defensively, the Abbey caused 16 turnovers as Damon DeLuca had six, while Tom Ottman had three. DiLuigi posted five ground balls as the Abbey won that battle 40-35.

Goalkeeper Tony Kikola made 13 saves, including five in the fourth quarter, while Jesuit goalkeeper Joe Simms collected 11.