MONMOUTH, Ill. – The Cornell men's lacrosse team failed to capitalize on extra-man opportunities Thursday night and dropped a Midwest Lacrosse Conference match to the Monmouth Scots, 13-5. 

Cornell (1-4 overall, 1-3 MLC) had its chances but was unable to take advantage of the six extra-man opportunities against the Scots. 

Warren Wiberg (SO/Valley Center, Calif.) netted his first of his two goals on the night for the Rams off a helper from Seth Beaty (FR/Lincoln, Neb.) early in the first quarter to get Cornell on the board.

Soon after, Monmouth (3-0 overall, 2-0 MLC) grabbed the momentum and used a 9-1 scoring run to pull away from the Rams. 

The Scots scoring run lasted until midway through the third quarter when Wiberg and Kyle Jussila (JR/Elk River, Minn.) each scored a goal to break up the Scots momentum. 

But before the third quarter could end, Monmouth shut the door on the Rams, scoring consecutive goals within four seconds of each other taking a 12-4 lead in the fourth. 

In the final frame, each team only accounted for one goal with Jussila rounding out the Rams scoring at the 1:17 mark in the fourth. 

The Rams defense was facing pressure throughout the night from Monmouth, who outshot the Rams 57-22, and won 15-of-20 faceoffs. Jeff Knapp led the Monmouth attack with 8 goals on the night. 

Jussila and Demarius Pittman (JR/Denver, Colo.) paced the Rams with 14 and 11 ground balls respectively. Cornell had no issue getting the ball into their zone, completing an impressive 25-of-25 clear attempt opportunities. 

Evan Begner (FR/Evergreen, Colo.) continued his streak of double-digit saves, stopping 16 of the Scots shots over the 60 minutes of game time. 

Coming up – The Rams return home to Van Metre Field at Ash Park on Saturday, March 10 for a match against Beloit College. Start time is slated for 3 p.m.