BEREA, Ohio – The Capital University men's lacrosse team was defeated 12-6 by Baldwin Wallace on Saturday evening in an Ohio Athletic Conference contest at George Finnie Stadium.

Capital (8-6 overall, 1-3 OAC) also concluded its regular season with the loss, capping off an impressive inaugural campaign as a varsity program.

The Crusaders jumped out to a 3-0 lead through the first quarter, as three different Capital players scored a goal in the opening period.

Baldwin Wallace responded in the second quarter with three goals of its own, as the Crusaders were held scoreless with just three shots taken in the second frame.

With the score tied at three goals apiece at halftime, the Yellow Jackets were outshooting the Crusaders 19-9, while neither team recorded any penalty minutes in the opening half of play.

As the second half began, the Yellow Jackets continued their scoring run, tallying four straight unanswered goals to begin the third period, taking a 7-3 advantage with 8:15 left to play in the third frame.

Capital then broke the nearly 25 minute scoring drought of theirs with a goal at the 5:13 mark, cutting the deficit to 7-4. Baldwin Wallace then followed with a trio of unanswered scores, before the Crusaders rallied for a late third quarter goal, as the Yellow Jackets took a 10-5 lead into the final period.

The Crusaders managed to post a score in between a pair of goals by the Yellow Jackets, but to no avail, as Capital eventually fell by six goals.

Leading the way for the Crusaders was freshman attack Nick Hess (Horseheads, N.Y.), who scored three goals on a total of seven shots, five of them coming on goal.

Fellow freshman and attack Connor Simon (Sylvania, Ohio) followed with a pair of scores, while classmate in midfielder Michael Trefethern (Canfield, Ohio) tallied a goal and an assist on the evening.

Defensively, freshmen defenders Tate Stover (Delaware, Ohio) and Adam Thomas (Powell, Ohio), as well as classmate in midfielder Brent Walton (Pickerington, Ohio) combined for seven of the Crusaders 11 caused turnovers for the game.

In the varsity program's first-ever regular season, a total of six Capital players recorded at least 20 points and at least 13 goals this season, while three players posted over 30 points and 20 or more goals on the year.