A strong second-half effort wasn’t quite enough to make up for a slow start on the road as the Clarkson University Lacrosse team suffered its first loss of the season, a 10-9 setback at traditional power Nazareth College on Wednesday afternoon in Rochester.

Nazareth (3-3) jumped out to a 4-0 lead five minutes after the opening faceoff and led 8-2 at the half before the Golden Knights found their game in the final 30 minutes to make it a one-goal contest. Clarkson outscored the Golden Flyers 7-2 in the second half, starting with a 4-1 run in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 9-6 after 45 minutes. The Green and Gold scored the final two goals to make it 10-9 with 2:39 remaining. With less than 15 seconds to play, the Knights forced a Nazareth turnover deep in the Golden Flyers’ end, but time ran out before Clarkson could get a shot off in its bid to tie the game.

Senior Eric Gollands (Chelmsford, MA) led all scorers with a team-high three goals. Freshman Corey Herrington (Camillus, NY) recorded a game-high four points, including three assists. Senior Matt Cyr (Cheshire, CT) tallied twice. Senior Bryan Huff (Hillsborough, NJ), and juniors Matt McCabe (Syracuse, NY) and Kyle Kasprzyk (Orchard Park, NY) scored one goal apiece.

Nate DeLone and Chris Peterson both scored twice for Nazareth.

Clarkson held a slight 33-32 edge in shots, while the Golden Flyers controlled ground balls 22-17. Nazareth won 16-of-23 faceoffs.

Junior Ryan Cole (Orchard Park, NY) made 11 saves, including six in the second half for Clarkson. Sophomores Jack Keenan (Brasher Falls, NY), Tim Krauss (Niskayuna, NY) and Peter Goss (Jamesville, NY) each picked up two ground balls apiece for the Knights.

At 4-1 overall, Clarkson closes out a four-game road trip when it opens Liberty League play at conference newcomer Rochester Institute of Technology with a 1:00 p.m. game in Rochester on Saturday.