NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The Westminster College men's lacrosse team lost, 9-8, to Thiel College in an Ohio River Lacrosse Conference (ORLC) game at home Wednesday night.
 
Titan sophomore Ryan Shorts (Westlake Village, CA / Oak Park) recorded a game-high four points, which included two goals and two assists. Freshman Chris Slater (Pittsburgh, PA / Central Catholic) and classmate Adrian Culp (Gaithersburg, MD / Quince Orchard) each earned two points, from two goals each. Titan sophomore goalkeeper Carter Hall (Zeeland, MI / Zeeland West) collected a season-high 21 saves in a complete-game effort.
 
Thiel outshot Westminster, 52-31, including 30-21 on goal, and held a 31-29 advantage in ground balls. Freshman Chris Ryczaj (Pittsburgh, PA / Central Catholic) gathered in a game-high seven ground balls, while freshman Steven Knight (Wyckoff, NJ / Ramapo) had four.
 
Westminster (5-5, 1-2 ORLC) led 3-0 with 11:09 to play in the first half; Culp (13:57,  1^st Q), Shorts (2:45, 1^st Q), and sophomore Luke Ostoyic (Kentson, OH / Kenston) (11:09, 2Q) registered the goals. Thiel (8-2, 3-0 ORLC) cut the Titans' lead to 3-2 with two-straight goals in the second quarter and the score remained the same at halftime. Westminster maintained its lead in the third quarter, tying the Tomcats 3-3 in the frame and led 6-5 going into the fourth quarter; Slater (10:43), Culp (6:14), and junior Shamon Walker (Pittsburgh, PA / Milton Hershey) (4:37) earned the Titan goals. The Tomcats, however, registered three-straight goals early in the fourth and led 8-6 with 11:45 to play. Shorts cut Thiel's lead to 8-7 with a goal at the 11:28 mark, but Thiel answered with a goal with 10:30 to play. Slater scored the final goal of the game with 4:59 to play.
 
The Titans are back on the field Saturday, April 15 with an ORLC home game versus Bethany College at 1 p.m.