ADRIAN, Mich.--Freshman Chris French led Adrian with five points and classmate Grant Nesbitt established a career-high with four, but it wasn't enough as the Bulldogs were unable to sustain early momentum in the latter quarters during a 19-8 non-conference loss at the hands of visiting Hanover in men's lacrosse action on Tuesday.

THE BASICS
= Final Score: Hanover College 19, Adrian College 8

= Location: Kapnick Field at Docking Stadium, Adrian, Mich.; Weather conditions: Snow showers, 21 degrees, Wind ESE 12 mph

= Records: Hanover Panthers 1-1, Adrian Bulldogs 0-2 

TOP 'DAWGS
= French ended up with three goals and two assists, while Nesbitt posted two tallies and two assists.

= Sophomore co-captain Kyle Sanderson added two goals.

= Nesbitt scored twice and had two assists.

= Reigning Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Week Max Leventis led Adrian with six ground balls, followed by French with five and freshman Peyton Gasche, four.

THE OPPOSITION
= Bret Schell led all scorers with five goals and six points, plus he had eight ground balls. He also went 15-for-23 in the face-off "X."

= Patrick Boylston matched him with six points on two goals and four assists. He also had three ground balls and two caused turnovers.

= Al Alessia had three caused turnovers, three ground balls and two points.

= Noah King (3 assists), Jackson Wheeler (1a), Ian Kimmins and Dirk Meinhart all had two goals apiece.

= Noah Dubrava (1-1) made seven saves for the win.

HOW IT HAPPENED
= Adrian got off to a great start executing its offense to the tune of two three-goal leads in the opening quarter. Gasche and French scored back-to-back unassisted goals 2 minutes and 39 seconds apart beginning with 11:49 showing on the clock.

= Nesbitt scored man-up on a feed from French to hand the Bulldogs a 3-0 advantage with 6:49 left.

= But 20 seconds later, Schell put the Panthers on the scoreboard after getting an assist from Boylston.

= Sanderson, however, restored Adrian's three-goal advantage at the 3:04 mark when he took a pass from sophomore Hayden Berger. Adrian led 4-1

= Hanover closed the scoring in the first quarter when Schell cut the deficit in half with 71 seconds remaining. That goal ignited a run of eight unanswered goals the rest of the half.

= Hanover took control of the game in the second quarter, outscoring the Bulldogs 7-0 to take a 9-4 advantage into the locker room. The Panthers tied it 4-all on a Wheeler-to-Boylston connection at the 11:44 mark of the second quarter and Boylston scored unassisted at 9:52 to put them in the lead for good.

= French started the scoring in the second half that made the score 9-5 in Hanover's favor, but the visitors scored five of the next six goals to take a commanding 14-6 lead after three quarters.

= The Panthers also held statistical advantages in shots (45-29), shots on goal (26-16), face-off wins (18-13) and turnovers (20-24).

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
= This is the second time the schools have met as Adrian bested Hanover in their first matchup, 11-4, back on March 30, 2012.

= The Panthers are the first of three opponents out of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference that the Bulldogs will face this spring. 

= Adrian is now 7-5 in home openers since the program was founded in 2008.

= French is tied for the MIAA goal-scoring lead with seven and he is third with nine points.

= Gasche is tied for third in the conference with three assists.

= Leventis upped his MIAA-leading total to 24 ground balls. As a team, Adrian is first with 97 and is second in NCAA Division III in grounds balls per game.

UP NEXT
= Adrian will be at non-conference opponent Hiram College on Saturday, starting at 2 p.m.

#AdrianBulldogs #GoDawgs #BulldogProud