The Oglethorpe men's lacrosse team faced an uphill climb Saturday against Methodist at a chilly Oglethorpe Track and Field, playing with only 10 men for the duration of the game. They more than held their own in the first half, coming back from a 4-goal deficit to pull to within two late in the second quarter, but the visiting Monarchs were able to pull away in the second half for a 20-6 victory. The loss drops the Stormy Petrels to 0-3 on the young season.

The Petrels collected the game's opening goal from freshman midfielder Nathaniel Gillespie, as he drove through the heart of the Methodist defense to give the home team a 1-0 lead with 12:55 remaining in the opening quarter. However, the Monarchs ran off four straight as the period continued, building a 5-1 advantage with four minutes to go in the first. Oglethorpe pulled a goal back at the end of the quarter when sophomore attackman John Hood collected a pass from freshman midfielder Thomas O'Berry and slipped the ball past the Methodist goalie. Then, the Petrels got an extra-man opportunity when a Methodist player received a 3-minute penalty for using an illegal crosse. The Petrels took advantage, as freshman midfielder Jorge Arce scored a man-up goal off an assist from Gillespie to pull the Petrels back to within two. A pair of Methodist goals pushed it back out to a 4-goal advantage, but the Petrels again got the benefit of an illegal crosse penalty and Hood slotted home the man-up goal off an assist from freshman midfielder Tyler Stridiron, making it a 7-4 game with 7:04 to play in the half. The home side cut the Monarch advantage down further with 2:47 left when they got Gillespie's second marker of the contest off another assist from Stridiron. Methodist slotted home a goal in the final minute to make the score 8-5 at the break. 

The shorthanded Petrels began to tire in the second half, though. Methodist outscored the home team 8-0 in the third quarter and continued that into the fourth, outscoring the Petrels 4-1 in the final period. O'Berry tallied the team's only second-half goal at the 13:20 mark of the fourth quarter.

For the game, the Petrels succeeded on 13-of-18 clear attempts and 2-of-5 extra-man opportunities. However, they were just 6 for 28 on faceoffs, turned the ball over 20 times and were outshot 63-14. The Petrels did stay out of the penalty box for the vast majority of the game, earning just two penalties for a total of one minute of time. They also kept Methodist off the board on those two extra-man opportunities.

Gillespie and Hood scored a pair of goals each while Stridiron tallied two assists. O'Berry led the team in ground balls with six while freshman defenseman Andrew Kwapil, who organized the day's fundraiser to benefit research for clinical heart defects, caused three turnovers and scooped four ground balls of his own. Freshman goalie Lane Edwards made 18 saves on the 38 shots on goal he faced.

"We had an amazing first half, but depth became an issue as Methodist started to pull away," said Oglethorpe head coach Nathan Young. "The never-give-up attitude under difficult circumstances speaks to the character of this team. Things will start to fall for us as the season goes on, but I could not be prouder of this core group of guys."

The Petrels will next welcome Piedmont to the Oglethorpe Track and Field Wednesday evening. That game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.