SAN DIEGO - Propelled by a strong second-half start, unbeaten Keene State defeated the Swarthmore College men's lacrosse team by a score of 12-7 in the Garnet's Spring Break finale on Friday afternoon.

Seniors Wes Marcik and Steve Selverian led the Garnet (1-4) offense with two goals apiece. Junior Jonathan Cohen had a brilliant day in net, collecting 15 saves for the second-consecutive game.

Ryan Hart and J.T. Galloway led the Owls (4-0) with three goals each.

Playing under a low fog that descended upon the UC-San Diego campus, the Garnet jumped in front when sophomore Ian Lukaszewicz tallied at unassisted goal to put Swat up 1-0 just over five minutes into the game. The Owls answered back, recording three goals over the next seven minutes to pull ahead 3-1. Swarthmore struck back in the waning seconds of the quarter, as a great behind-the-goal pass from Jonathan Molloy led to a Marcik goal that just beat the Iphone buzzer (improvisation is required on a neutral field.)

In the second, Swarthmore tied the game 3-3 thanks to a goal from Selverian, but Keene State went into the halftime break with a 5-3 advantage.

The difference in the game was the third period. The Owls scored four goals in a 90-second span to pull ahead 9-3. From that point on, the Garnet continued to fight, but got no closer than four from the lead, as Keene State hung on for the 12-7 win.

Sophomore Grayson Roze netted a man-up goal in the third period. Molloy added Swarthmore's final score in the fourth.

Junior Geli Carabases finished with a game-high four caused turnovers and an assist.

The Garnet and Owls both finished with 35 shots for the game, but the Owls were significantly more accurate, putting 27 shots on goal compared to 12 for Swat.

Swarthmore opens Centennial Conference play on Saturday against Ursinus. Face-off is set for 3:00 p.m.