Bradford, PA -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's lacrosse team hosted the program's first-ever home match on Saturday afternoon, facing off against Bethany at Rathburn Family Field. The Panthers opened the scoring but ultimately fell behind the Bison and lost the game 15-9.

After being led onto the field by the White Pine Dancers from the nearby Seneca Nation, the Panthers took control early and Ben Byers needed just 90 seconds to put Pitt-Bradford on the board with an unassisted goal. The Bison responded a minute later to tie the game, but Pitt-Bradford's offense stayed efficient and they scored the next two goals to jump into the lead. Byers scored his second at the 10:50 mark and with just under 5 minutes to go, AJ Nardi found Joshua Held open next to the net for a goal. Over the final four minutes, the Panthers could not hold off the Bisons, who scored twice to end the first period tied at three.

Between periods, the Panthers were hit with a 3-minute, unreleasable penalty for an illegal stick, and paid the price. Bethany scored 3 times during the penalty and took all the momentum in the game. Even after the penalty ended, they continued to attack and scored two more in a row to take an 8-3 lead with 6:40 remaining in the half. Pitt-Bradford battled back over the last 2:30 of the half, and scored twice to cut the deficit to three. Held broke the Bethany goal streak with a tally at 2:30 and Reid Kristufek made a solo run through the defense and finished with 1:28 to go for his first of the game.

Bethany regained momentum in the third and pushed their lead to 11-5 after 3 goals within 2:17 of the restart. Evan Hawley got the Panthers back on the board with just under 11 minutes remaining in the period, firing a shot past the Bison goalie off a feed by Byers. A few minutes later, Billy Tigar found Kristufek streaking to the net and the Panther midfielder gathered the pass ad fired into the goal to cut the deficit to 4. Bethany added a final goal of the 3rd with 5 minutes left to end the period ahead 12-7.

The visitors once again regained control to start the final period and took advantage of a few PAnther turnovers to add 3 more goals to their tally. Pitt-Bradford locked down defensively over the final 10 minutes of play, while David De La Teja took over the offense. The midfielder scored two unassisted goals at the 8:57 and 7:30 mark to try and spark a Panther comeback. Unfortunately, Pitt-Bradford would not find the net again and lost 15-9.

Freshman goalie Evan Stack stood tall in the Panther goal, making 24 saves in the loss. Ben Byers, Joshua Held, Reid Kristufek, and David De La Teja all scored twice for the Panthers, while Evan Hawley finished with one goal. Byers added an assist to his point tally, while Billy Tigar and AJ Nardi also tallied assists.

The loss drops the Panthers to 2-5 on the season. They will return to action on Wednesday, April 2nd when they host Elmira for a non-conference matchup. The game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start under the lights at Rathburn Family Field.