HIRAM, Ohio - March 2, 2022 – Though they stood tied at 3-3 at the half and 6-6 at the end of the third, Hiram College men's lacrosse fell to the Bethany College Bison, 9-7, on Wednesday in their home opener at Charles A. Henry Field at Malmisur Stadium.
 
Trevor Flugum got the Terriers on the scoreboard first, finding the back of the net off an assist from Ethan Mayer just over four minutes into the first quarter to give Hiram a 1-0 lead.
 
Ther Terriers quickly added to their advantage, scoring off a Bethany turnover on Ambrose Colliluori's unassisted goal to take a 2-0 and force the Bison to take a timeout.
 
However, the Bison quickly rallied out of the timeout, clearing it off a face-off win and cutting Hiram's lead in half on Clay Yingling's goal with 7:25 left in the first quarter.
 
The Bison then tied the score at 2-2 on Joshua Allegra's goal, assisted by Raymond Rogers, a little over five minutes later, before taking a 3-2 lead after one.
 
Allegra again found the back of the net, this time with just 33 seconds left in the period, to give Bethany a 3-2 lead after one.
 
Five minutes into the second though, Hiram tied the ballgame up at three, as Trevor Nordstrom scored his first career goal off an assist from Colliluori.
 
Both teams would combine with 20 shots in the period, but neither was able to find the back of the net the rest of the half, and Hiram and Bethany headed into the halftime break all tied up at 3-3.
 
Hiram came out of the locker room and quickly took the lead on Brett Johnson's man-up goal, assisted by Mayer, just 17 seconds into the third quarter. However, a little over two minutes later, Bethany cleared the ball and found the back of the net to tie the game on Tyler Britton's score, assisted by Yingling.
 
After Markus Johnson won the face-off, Hiram again took the lead, this time on Colliluori's second goal of the day, giving the Terriers a 5-4 advantage.
 
The Terriers then tallied five shots over the next two minutes as they looked to extend their lead, but Andrew Smith and the Bison defense kept Hiram off the scoreboard, and with 8:24 left in the third, Allegra notched his third goal of the day, evening the score at 5-5.
 
Three minutes later, Yingling notched his second goal as well, giving Bethany their first lead since the first half, but after Johnson again won the face-off, Flugum notched his second off an assist from Noah Pilgram to even the score at 6-all heading to the fourth.
 
Bethany though, quickly pressed their advantage, willing the opening draw control and taking the lead off a Hiram turnover, with Aarin Burton finding the back of the net 51 seconds into the fourth to give the Bison a 7-6 lead.
 
The Bison would score two more over the next seven minutes, extending their lead to 9-6 on a pair of goals by Yingling, before Hiram, down by three, was forced to take a timeout.
 
Hiram would keep the Bison off the scoreboard the rest of the way, but the Terriers weren't able to again find pay dirt until Colliluori completed his hat trick with 1:05 to play, cutting Bethany's lead to 9-7.
 
However, even though the Terriers won the ensuing face-off, Hiram's last gasp would fall short, and the Bethany finished off the 9-7 victory.
 
Hiram falls to 1-1 with the loss, while the Bison move to 2-1 on the year.
 
Colliluori led the Terriers with three goals, notching his second hat trick of the year, while Flugum added a pair, leading the Terriers with 13 shots.
 
Offensively, Mayer led the Terriers with two assists, while Gray Perry notched a team-high five ground balls. In the face-off circle, Markus Johnson won 10 of his 17 face-offs, while William Luketich went 1-for-2.
 
In goal for the Terriers, Bricen Jones recorded a career-high 19 saves but took the loss, falling to 1-1 on the year.
 
Hiram next hosts La Roche on Saturday, March 5 at 1 p.m. at Charles A. Henry Field at Malmisur Stadium, continuing non-conference play against the RedHawks.