WHEELING, W. Va. – The No. 5 Seton Hill men's lacrosse team fended off Wheeling Jesuit's hard-charge second half for an 11-7 victory Tuesday evening.
 
The Cardinals (6-5) pulled to within a goal, 6-5, with 6:47 left in the third period when Matt Lee fired shot into the goal. The Griffins (9-2) answered with the next two goals and never let the home team closer than two goals the rest of the way.
 
Lee paced the WJU attack with three goals, including the first home goal and fifth of the match. The freshman Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week also added an assist and one ground ball.
 
Dereck Downs scored twice and assisted on another Cardinal score. Duston Doudelet and Tyler Buchan completed the home goals with one apiece.
 
The WJU defense led by Corey Luebbe's five caused turnovers forced seven second-half turnovers and held the Seton Hill offense scoreless over a 12-minute period from the mid-second period through the opening five third-period minutes. Goalie Collin Smith registered nine saves in net.
 
The Griffins' Marc Piche and Shane Pettke both finished with three goals.
 
Seton Hill opened the match on fire. The visitors score the lone two first-period goals and added three more in the opening eight minutes of the second period for a 5-0 lead.
 
The Wheeling Jesuit defense stiffened and the midfielders took over a string of face-offs. Lee put the Cardinals on the board with 5:12 left in the half, before Downs hit three minutes later for a 5-2 halftime tally.
 
Downs added his second score 2:24 into the third period to make it three WJU goals in a row, 5-3. After one Griffin goal, Buchan and Lee hit close goals to pull the Cardinals to within one, 6-5.
 
Wheeling Jesuit hosts Ohio Valley University on Friday night starting at 7:30 p.m. on Bishop Schmitt Field.
 
Score by Periods
SH        2-3-3-3               11
WJU    0-2-3-2                 7