WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The Palm Beach Atlantic men's lacrosse team returned home from a three-game road trip to earn their first home victory of the season against Emmanuel 17-14. The Sailfish came from behind in the second half to secure the victory and take their record to 3-3 on the season. 

The Sailfish got off to a slow start offensively as they were held to three goals in the opening quarter of play against the Lions. Austin Evans opened the scoring for the 'Fish at the 8:30 mark to equalize at 1-1, followed by Hunter Hopman who scored with just over six minutes left. The Lions outshot the Sailfish 18-16 in the opening quarter and were quicker to loose balls early on winning 11 ground balls to PBA's five. The Sailfish trailed 5-3 after the opening 15 minutes where Sailfish goalie Sam Malussena made four saves while making his first start of his career. 

Sailfish leading scorer Henry Sloyan got going in the second quarter, scoring three of PBA's four goals. Defensively, the Sailfish did a strong job containing Emmanuel star Alex Stull, holding him to two goals in the first half and shutting him out in the second. The two sides were even in scoring chances in the first half but Emmanuel goalie Ethan Brundage made eleven first-half saves to Malussena's six saves. The teams went into the half with the 'Fish trailing 10-7. 

The two sides stayed close out of the halftime locker room until late in the third quarter when PBA started a 5-0 scoring run that continued into the beginning of the fourth quarter to take a 14-12 lead. Both teams made a goalie switch to start out the second half, with PBA turning to Gerrit Kurtycz who played a huge role in holding the Lions to just four second-half goals while making six saves. Emmanuel closed the deficit to one late in the fourth quarter twice through Ethan Perez, who finished with four goals, before Jonah Roberston and Austin Evans iced the game with two late goals to secure the 17-14 victory. 

Digging into the underlying stats to the game, the Sailfish were able to force 24 turnovers while committing just 13. Emmanuel goalies made 19 saves while the combination of Malussena and Kurtycz combined for 12 saves as PBA netminders. The 'Fish were able to covert 5-of-12 extra-man opportunities into goals while the Lions were 0-for-4 in the game.

Up next, the Sailfish will host Westminster out of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference on March 14 at the Rinker Athletic Campus. The Griffins are 3-4 so far on the season.