ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – The Quincy University men's lacrosse team fell to Lynn University, 20-9, on Monday afternoon in a neutral-site matchup hosted by Lewis University at Lewis Stadium. The Fighting Knights used a large first-half scoring run to build separation before closing out the victory.

Despite the loss, the Hawks saw strong individual performances, including a career-high four assists from Haakon Steen and a career-high six ground balls from Ian Kersten.

Quincy came out strong and struck first midway through the opening frame. Mason Luoma finished a feed from Haakon Steen at the 13:18 mark to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead. Less than a minute later, Jameson Essen capitalized on another assist from Steen to push the advantage to 2-0 early in the contest.

Lynn answered quickly and began to swing the momentum. The Fighting Knights scored twice within a minute to even the game at 2-2 before taking control midway through the quarter. Over the final four minutes, Lynn scored four additional goals to close the frame on a six-goal run and take a 6-2 lead into the second quarter.

Lynn continued its offensive surge early in the second quarter, adding two quick goals to extend the lead to 8-2. The Hawks responded midway through the period when Seve Cordero finished an assist from Cooper Karedes to stop the run and make it 8-3. However, Lynn added three more goals over the next several minutes to stretch the margin to eight.

Late in the quarter, Quincy capitalized on a man-up opportunity when Luoma scored his second goal of the afternoon off a pass from Steen, trimming the deficit to 11-4 at halftime.

Quincy opened the second half with a quick spark as Steen scored unassisted just 90 seconds into the quarter to cut the deficit to 11-5. Lynn answered with a pair of goals to push the margin back to eight before Sean Usher connected on a shot assisted by Karedes midway through the period to make it 13-6.

The Fighting Knights added two late goals, including a man-up tally in the final minute of the quarter, and carried a 15-6 advantage into the fourth.

Lynn opened the final quarter with another goal before Quincy responded with a scoring connection between Usher and Cordero, trimming the deficit to 16-7. The Fighting Knights answered with three goals in a quick stretch to extend the lead to 19-7.

Quincy continued to battle late as Luoma completed his hat trick on another assist from Steen with just over eight minutes remaining. In the closing minutes, Usher added his second goal of the game off a pass from Karedes to bring the final score to 20-9.

Lynn finished with 49 shots compared to Quincy's 29 and held a 37-23 edge in shots on goal. The Fighting Knights also controlled possession through the faceoff circle, winning 21 faceoffs to Quincy's 12, which helped generate additional offensive opportunities. Quincy recorded 28 ground balls in the contest, while Lynn collected 42.

Luoma led the Hawks offensively with a three-goal performance, his fourth consecutive game with at least three goals. Steen turned in a strong playmaking effort, finishing with one goal and a career-high four assists to pace Quincy's offense with five total points. Usher contributed two goals and one assist, while Cordero added two goals of his own. Karedes recorded three assists, helping facilitate multiple Quincy scoring opportunities.

Defensively, Kersten anchored the effort with a career-high six ground balls, while also forcing turnovers throughout the game. In goal, Austin Vetter made 17 saves for the Hawks while facing constant pressure throughout the game.

The Hawks will look to bounce back when they return to action on Monday, March 16, as Quincy hosts Holy Family University with the first faceoff scheduled for 5:00 PM CT.