BUFFALO, N.Y. – Returning home after a brief road trip, the D'Youville University men's lacrosse team fell to Malone University Wednesday afternoon by a score of 17-7.
 
The Saints (1-7) were led offensively by Brady Ruffalo (Webster, N.Y.) with three points (2 goals, 1 assist) with Nick Sholett (Vestal, N.Y.) adding a pair of goals. Stefano Evan (Vestal, N.Y.) had two points (1 goal, 1 assist) with Tristan Engelhardt (Orlando, Fla.) and Jake Bush (Lakeview, N.Y.) each scoring a goal.
 
Sholett, Logan Schwartz (Depew, N.Y.), and Jordan Brown (Baltimore, Md.) led the team in groundballs with six each. Schwartz, Caleb Pate (East Amherst, N.Y.), and Sam Radka (Buffalo, N.Y.) each had two caused turnovers to lead the team.
 
The Pioneers opened the game up with a pair of goals before Luciano Gonzalez (Coquitlam, British Columbia) found Evan for the man-up goal to make it 2-1. Malone was able to retake the momentum, scoring 11 unanswered goals to make it 13-2 three minutes into the second half.
 
Bush halted the Pioneer run, scoring at the 6:48 mark of the third quarter off the dish from Ruffalo. Sholett got on the bord just 12 seconds into the final frame, capitalizing on the man-up opportunity to make it 15-4. The teams continued to trade goals with Ruffalo adding his second goal of the day at the 11:34 mark. Ruffalo and Sholett capped off the scoring Saints in the late stages of the game.
 
William Nichols (Palmyra, N.Y.) earned the loss in net, making seven saves in 33 minutes of action. Reece Eck (Forest Lake, Minn.) saw 22 minutes of action, making four saves.
 
The Saints will be back in action this Saturday, March 16th, as they host Molloy University at 1 p.m. to open conference play.