HOUGHTON, N.Y. – The Thiel College men's lacrosse team lost a non-conference game on the road Saturday to the Houghton Highlanders, 6-5.
 
Houghton scored the first goal of the game a little less than four minutes after the opening faceoff, but Thiel responded with three straight goals to hold a 3-1 lead after 15 minutes of play. JJ Raab (Butler, Pa./Butler) scored a pair of goals over the stretch while Dylan Waskiewicz (York, Pa./Red Lion) scored one marker.
 
Raab led the Tomcats with four goals. He took 12 shots in the game, five of which were on goal, while also recording seven ground balls.
 
The Highlanders scored the only goal in the second period and trailed the Tomcats 3-2 at halftime.
 
Raab got the Tomcats' 2-goal lead back when he scored for the third time early in the third quarter, but the Highlanders scored three consecutive goals over the remainder of the third period to take their first lead, 5-4.
 
Lyle Warrior scored his second goal of the game early in the fourth quarter to increase Houghton's lead to 6-4. Raab scored his fourth goal of the game with 1:54 remaining in regulation, but the Tomcats would get no closer down the stretch.
 
 Jeffrey Karnoff (Ringoes, NJ/Hunterdon Central), Selom Kalin-Samlan (Gaithersburg, MD./Watkins Mill) and John Smiley (Lincoln University, Pa./Avon Grove) each recorded one assist for the Tomcats. Jack Fontana (Olmsted Falls, Ohio/Olmsted) won 10-of-14 faceoffs while Sheldon Bourdeau (Clarkston, MI/Clarkston) and Desmond Stuart (Roanoke, Va./Salem) each tallied seven ground balls.
 
Cole O'Connor (Midlothian, Va./James River) made 15 saves for the Tomcats while Jeremy Harris denied 11 shots for the Highlanders.
 
The Tomcats (3-3) will take on the Hilbert Hawks (1-1) on the road Wednesday. The non-conference game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.