ELMHURST, Ill. –  The Elmhurst men's lacrosse team slipped to 0-3 on the season after dropping a tightly contest 13-11 contest to Benedictine University.

Elmhurst outshot Benedictine in the contest, but struggled with the extra-man advantage.

The Bluejays controlled most of the action for the first five minutes, but Benedictine struck first as Dell Hune sprinted past the Elmhurst defense and fed Corbin Gett for an open shot in front of the net.  Elmhurst pulled even with 6:20  left in the quarter as Matt Westhaver jammed home a pass from Jake Cambron behind the net.

The Eagles pulled ahead with 3:10 left on a Matthew Johnson goal, but the Bluejays answered back less than a minute later as Mac Harden scored off Cambron's second assist. The pair of Bluejays connected again with 1:35 remaining as Cambron fed Harden in front of the net for his second goal of the contest. Benedictine answered right back as Gett scored his second goal of the contest with just over 40 seconds remaining.

Benedictine took advantage of an extra-man situation to start the second quarter as Blake Keenan scored to put the Eagles in front 4-3. Gett's third goal of the game with 11:53 left gave the Eagles a 5-3 cushion. Westhaver stuffed home his second goal of the contest just 59 seconds later to cut the Eagles' lead down to one. Gett scored his fourth goal of the contest with 9:22 left to put the Eagles back up by two. Tyler Dailey responded for the Bluejays, netting his second goal of the season with 6:16 remaining on the clock. The Bluejays pulled even with 4:09 left after Jackson Mandli netted a goal of a feed from Hardin.

The Bluejays regained the lead the lead with 2:31 as Dailey slammed home his second goal of the game. The lead last just 18 seconds as Benedictine won the faceoff and Blake Keenan scored the equalizer. The Eagles reclaimed the lead 16 seconds later, winning their second straight faceoff and taking the lead on Johnson's second goal of the game. David Blanco scored his first goal of the game with 6.3 seconds left to give the Ealges a 9-7 lead at the half.  

The Eagles made it 10-7 early in the third on Johnson's second goal of the game. The Bluejays shaved the deficit down to two with just 23.6 seconds left in the quarter when Cambron tallied his first goal of the contest of a feed from Mandli.

Elmhurst continued to close in the fourth quarter, as Harden stuffed home a wrap-around shot with 12:45 left to cut the Eagles' lead back to one. The Eagles pushed the lead back to two just 39 seconds later as Tony DePinto scored on a point-blank look in front of the net. Johnson netted his third goal of the game with 11 minutes remaining to run the Eagles' lead back to three. Eric Orndorf added a goal with 5:45 left to give Benedictine its' largest lead of the contest at 13-9.

Elmhurst pulled to within three after Mandli netted his second goal of the contest with two minutes left. The Bluejays pulled to within two with just under a minute remaining when David Fracassa netted his first collegiate goal. The Bluejays won the ensuing faceoff and put a shot on net, but Benedictine recorded a save and was able to run out the clock on offense.

Elmhurst outshot Benedictine 43-29, but the Bluejays could not capitalize on Benedictine penalties. Elmhurst finished just 1-of-10 with extra-man opportunities. The Bluejays held a slight edge on faceoffs, winning 14 to Benedictine's 13. Elmhurst also held a 40-31 edge in ground balls.

Cambron and Harden paced the Elmhurst attack. Harden registered a hat trick, totaling three goals and two assists to finish with five points. Cambron totaled six points on a goal and five assists. Westhaver, Dailey and Mandli tallied two goals apiece in the loss. Nick Bonastia took the loss in goal for the Bluejays despite recording 10 saves.

Gett and Johnson powered Benedictine's offense with four goals apiece. Johnson added an assist to finish with five points.  Jeremy Voyda earned the win in goal with 13 saves.

Elmhurst hosts Hope College on Friday, February 4, at 6:00 p.m.