Villanova, Pa. – Monmouth University Men's Lacrosse came back and took a second-half lead, but a late Villanova run was enough to narrowly hold off the Hawks Saturday, 12-11 at Villanova Stadium.
 
MU led 4-2 after one, getting goals from four different players including a last second tally from Matt Dollive. It was all Villanova in the second, leading 6-4 at the break and 7-4 early in the third. Monmouth ripped off three in a row, including two from Brendan Dundas to tie the game with 4:34 remaining in the third, but the home team netted two to make it 9-7 Villanova headed to the final quarter.
 
Connor Gorman opened the fourth with consecutive goals to tie things at nine, and with 5:37 remaining, Luke Cole put the hawks in front. Villanova responded with three straight, and Dundas cut it back to a one-goal game with 2:24 left but it wasn't enough, as MU fell by one.
 
Notes
 
-Brendan Dundas posted his fourth hat trick of the season.
-Connor Gorman notched his second three-goal game this season and first since the first game of the year.
-Luke Cole scored twice for the fifth game in a row.
-Ethan Cronk posted his fourth game with four or more ground balls.
-Carter Malone scored his first career goal.
 
Numbers Crunch
-Each team had 32 shots.
-Monmouth's Tommy Heller made 10 saves.
-Each team took five penalties.
 
Up Next
-Monmouth is back into CAA play next Saturday, visiting Stony Brook at noon.