The Muhlenberg men's lacrosse team nearly erased a six-goal deficit but came up short and wound up falling at Swarthmore, 14-9.

The Garnet, fresh off an upset of 15th-ranked Gettysburg, led 5-0 at the end of the first quarter and scored early in the second quarter to make it 6-0. Freshman Drew Rafferty got the Mules on the board with his first career goal, but Swarthmore responded just 19 seconds later to go up 7-1 with 10:44 left in the second quarter.

That would be the last goal for the Garnet for a span of more than 26 minutes. Muhlenberg netted the next four goals to close to within two at 7-5 on a goal by junior Will Walter 28 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Swarthmore, however, scored the next two goals, and the Mules could not get closer than three despite scoring five fourth-quarter goals.

Rafferty (pictured above) added a second goal late in the game. Seven other Muhlenberg players scored goals, including senior Brad D'Alessandro, who moved into a tie for third on the program's all-time list with his 77th career goal.

Senior Jack Brennan assisted on a goal by sophomore Daniel Doreste for his first point of the season.

Junior Lance Gibson made 12 saves in goal, and freshman Frank Caterina picked up a career-high six ground balls.