NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The Norwich University men's lacrosse team hosted the Panthers of Plymouth State University on Saturday afternoon, dropping the game to their neighbor-state rivals by a 14-12 final score. 

The Cadets offense came out firing in the opening quarter, as Aidan Moulton (Danvers, Mass.) found the back of the net twice off of assists from both Matt Shea (Arlington, Mass.) and Cody Moore (Canton, N.Y.). The Panthers struck back with two goals of their own to tie things up before sophomore Kyle Maxim (Dracut, Mass.) collected his first goal of the year to regain the lead for NU. 

Both teams went back and forth throughout the first half, and at the break the game was knotted into a 7-7 tie. 

With just over four minutes remaining in the game, Matt Shea and Jack Anzalone (Ridgewood, N.J.) scored back-to-back goals within thirty seconds of each other to bring Norwich within one of PSU, but the Panthers were able to stand tall defensively and hold the Cadets off the scoreboard for the rest of the game and walk away with the 14-12 victory. 

Anzalone and Shea each had three points on the day for Norwich, while Maxim, Moulton, and Josh Jenkins (Centennial, Colo.) each collected two goals. Connor Delea had four goals for the Panthers and Zel Kerkel earned the victory in goal with 15 saves on the day. 

With the loss, NU falls to 1-2 on the young season. The Cadets hit the road for their next matchup this Thursday when they travel to Massachusetts Maritime for a 7:00 PM start.