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GRAND RAPIDS - The Calvin men's lacrosse team came back from a big early deficit, but could not find a way to win late in an 11-9 defeat to Aurora University on Saturday.

The teams were forced to play in very difficult conditions, with snow hitting the area during the morning and afternoon to go with cold temperatures and high winds.

Aurora (4-2) found its footing early, however, as goalie Phillip Gianelle made several tough saves in the game's first five minutes, and the Spartans' offense responded by scoring four goals in the last eight minutes of the first quarter to take the early lead.

The Spartans pushed the lead to 5-0 early in the second quarter, and then to 7-1 with under five minutes to play before halftime, but the Knights were able to build some momentum with goals by Robert Miner (Littleton, Colo./Columbine) and Thomas Smith (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich./Grosse Pointe South) in the last three minutes before halftime to cut the Calvin (4-4) deficit to 7-3 at the break.

The Knights cut the deficit to 7-5 after third-quarter goals from Josh Newhouse (Grand Junction, Colo./Palisade) and Smith, but the Spartans pushed the lead back up to 9-5 early in the fourth quarter and looked to have the game firmly in its grasp.

Calvin had other ideas, however, as Smith scored three straight goals in less than three minutes to cut the deficit to one, and Newhouse knotted the game at 9-9 with 5:05 to play off an assist from Nate Hanson (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North). 

With the comeback complete, the Knights looked for the go-ahead goal, but could not find it before Owen Spencer pushed the Spartans back in front with 2:22 to play, and Andy Trenary put the game away with a goal with 17 seconds remaining to get the final two-score margin.

Smith was the driving offensive force for the Knights in the game with five goals. Newhouse added two goals and one assist, while Chase Sparling (Novi, Mich./Novi) and Miner each recorded a pair of assists.

Corgan Schaumburg (Rockton, Ill./Hononegah) recorded 12 saves on 23 Aurora shots on goal.

COACH'S COMMENT: "I was proud of our performance today," Calvin men's lacrosse head coach Dave Hoger said. "We played in some really difficult elements against a great Aurora team, and then we fell down big early. I was really proud of the fight our team showed to get us all the way back even near the end, even if we weren't able to finish it off. This was a good experience for us as we go forward in our season."

NEXT UP: Calvin men's lacrosse returns to action on Saturday, March 25, when it travels to Benedictine for a game scheduled to start at 2:00 PM (1:00 PM CST).