POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Junior Michael Mullen (Dresher, PA) recorded his fifth-straight game with three or more goals, but it was not enough as the Vassar men's lacrosse team fell 15-12 to Hamilton on Wednesday afternoon. In a back-and-forth matchup, seven Brewers had at a goal.

Vassar (3-10) started the first quarter slow, allowing three Continentals (4-8) goals in the opening six minutes. Junior Matthew Lowery (Bel Air, MD) woke the Brewers offense up after winning the following faceoff. He streaked past the Hamilton defense and launched the shot into the back of the net. Hamilton answered to take a 4-1 lead at 6:41, but the Brewers pulled within one before the break. Sophomore Michael Killion (McLean, VA) tallied his eighth goal of the season at 5:08, and then a pair of Continentals penalties 1:22 gave Vassar a two-man advantage. Freshman Logan Hyde (Manhasset, NY) found Mullen less than 20 seconds after the penalty to cut the lead to 4-3.

The Vassar momentum carried over into the second with goals coming off two-straight Lowery faceoff wins. Dekker Stebel (San Diego, CA) tied the game 4-4 at 13:57 and then Mullen scored again 30 seconds later. Hamilton responded with two more goals, but neither side was able to pull away. A quick pass from Connor Deehan (Westwood, MA) to Mullen made it 6-6.

After a shot from Hyde, Hamilton gained possession and began the clear attempt. Zack Henig (Millstone, NJ) disrupted the lane and Cooper Vorel (Boonton Township, NJ) grabbed the groundball. The ball was passed to Hyde, who found Tomas Meade (Corvallis, OR) for the score. Vassar won the next faceoff and Hyde tallied another assist 20 seconds later when he picked up Kyle Cherry (Manhasset, NY). The Brewers could not keep the lead going into halftime though with Hamilton tying the game 8-8 with 11 seconds left.

The Continentals took an 11-8 lead before Meade scored off a Mullen assist. Stebel netted his second goal of the game at 1:32, but the Brewers still trailed 12-10 heading into the final act.

In a highlight reel goal, Vassar was struggling to break through the Hamilton defense and the shot clock was ticking down. A second before it went off, Mullen snuck a pass to Spencer Duryee (Whitehouse Station, NJ) who was a few feet out from the Hamilton goal. Duryee made the quick shot to cut the lead to one. Hamilton followed with two goals, and then neither side could get on the board in the next eight minutes of play. Mullen finally scored at 4:44 off Hyde's fourth assist, but a final Continentals goal at 1:31 sealed the game.

Mullen led the Brewers with six points on four goals and two assists, while Hyde had four points on four assists. Meade and Stebel finished with two goals each. Lowery won 16-of-30 faceoffs and had 11 groundballs. Chris Koester (Garden City, NY) and Henig led the defense with two caused turnovers each. Erik Mikelinich (Dix Hills, NY) started in goal and recorded 13 saves.

Vassar is back in action on Saturday for senior day against Union. Due to expected rain, game time and location has been changed to Weinberg Field at 3 p.m.