Box Score LATROBE, Pa. - The Thiel College men's lacrosse team (8-8) put together a valiant effort, but couldn't come away with a victory in the 2014 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship game, falling 16-11 to the Saint Vincent College Bearcats (8-8) at Chuck Noll Field Saturday afternoon.

Junior midfielder Carmen Papa (Salamanca, N.Y./Salamanca Central) was named league MVP after a junior season in which he totaled 43 points on 29 goals and 14 assists, including two goals and one assist Saturday. Third-year head coach Jeff Arneson took home PAC Coach of the Year honors after his Tomcats won eight matches this season- the most in a single-season in the program's four-year history while advancing to their first PAC Championship game.

On Saturday, six different Tomcats scored. Sophomore attacker Sean Loney (Linthicum, Md./North County) and senior midfielder Francis Ahia (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) each scored two goals and added two assists, while sophomore attacker Timothy O'Shea (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) scored a team-high three markers.

Junior goalkeeper Ryan Weldon (Centereach, N.Y./Newfield) made 12 saves in the cage. Weldon came up with a number of key stops down the stretch to keep it close for the Blue & Gold before junior goalkeeper Richard Cannon (Allison Park, Pa./Shaler Area) came into the contest in relief, making three saves in 19 minutes between the pipes.

Papa opened the scoring with an unassisted marker to make it 1-0, and freshman midfielder Edward Kargbo (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams) found the back of the net 45 seconds later to put Thiel ahead 2-0. The Bearcats countered with two scores of their own to make it 3-2 in favor of the Tomcats at the end of the first period.

Thiel went on a 6-0 run to start the second period, highlighted by back-to-back goals by O'Shea that made it 9-3. Tim Oxenreiter put Saint Vincent on his back and scored three-straight times as the Bearcats countered with a 5-0 run of their own, cutting the Tomcats lead to 9-7. O'Shea added his third goal of the game with 32 seconds remaining in the second period to give the Tomcats a 10-7 lead going into the break.

The Bearcats, however, outscored the Tomcats 9-1 in the second half to run away with the win.

The Tomcats concluded the 2014 season with an 8-8 record.