Worcester, Mass. (April 25) -- Leading by an 8-3 margin with just over three minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Assumption men's lacrosse team held off a furious Saint Anselm rally in the final minutes to come away with an 8-7 final in Northeast-10 Conference play at the Multi-Sport Stadium.

In the opening half of the first quarter, the momentum was in favor of Saint Anselm as the Hounds built a 3-0 lead, capped by a man-up score from Kyle Murphy. Assumption answered though with a pair of goals in the final 3:31 of the quarter to make it a 3-2 margin after one quarter.

Freshman Garrett Smith (East Syracuse, N.Y./East Syracuse Minoa) tied the game early in the second quarter and the Hounds took the lead for good with just 18 seconds left in the first half on a goal senior Alejandro Ruiz (Dover, N.J./Seton Hall Prep).

The Hounds extended the lead to 7-3 after three quarters and led by an 8-3 margin with 9:24 left in the game following a man-down goal by sophomore Ian Mack (Avon, Conn./Avon). The game was firmly in control for the Hounds heading to the final minutes before the Saint Anselm offense came to life.

With 3:06 left, Jake Mallinson stopped the 8-0 Assumption scoring run to cut the lead to 8-4, followed by back-to-back goals from sophomore Andrew Messner to cut the lead in half at 8-6 with 1:26 left. Senior Tyler Steinetz scored with 52 seconds remaining to make it an 8-7 margin before the Hounds held off the Hawks for the home victory.

Smith finished with two goals and one assists as seven different Greyhounds found the back of the net.

Sophomore Matt Palubicki (Scituate, Mass./Scituate) made 15 saves in the win, while Jonathon O'Reilly had 11 saves in the loss.

With the win, Assumption improves to 3-10 overall and 2-7 in Northeast-10 play, while Saint Anselm drops to 8-5 overall and 5-4 in the league. The Hounds are back in action on Saturday, April 28 as Merrimack College visits the Multi-Sport Stadium for the 2012 season finale.