AURORA, Illinois – Senior Oliver Winsor scored three goals but the MSOE lacrosse team could not overcome a second-half rally in falling to defending league champion Aurora 11-7 Sunday afternoon at Spartan Stadium.

The Raiders (10-3, 3-3 MLC) led 4-3 at halftime but the Spartans (14-1, 7-0 MLC) scored four-straight goals to open the second half and pull away for good. The Red & White did pull within 7-6 heading into the fourth quarter before a 4-1 run put the results out of reach.

In addition to Winsor's hat trick, sophomore Collin Fischer scored twice while senior Thomas Reid and sophomore Harrison Davies also scored goals.

Senior Pat Collins made 11 saves in the game.

Aurora opened the game's scoring 2:15 into the match but MSOE quickly countered with back-to-back goals by Winsor and Fischer just 49 seconds apart at 11:05 and 10:16. The Spartans would pull even late in the first quarter before Winsor's second goal of the game with 1:12 remaining gave the Raiders the lead after one quarter.

The teams each scored one time in the second quarter, with Winsor expanding the lead to 4-2 at one point, to secure a 4-3 lead at halftime for the Red & White.

The home team came out firing in the second half, striking for four goals in a 1:54 span inside the first four minutes of the third quarter to take a 7-4 lead.

MSOE did not back down. Fischer pulled a goal back at 3:01 and Davies beat the quarter horn with a goal at 0:08 to pull the team within 7-6. Unfortunately, Aurora started the fourth quarter with another bunch of goals, three in a row this time, to open a 10-6 lead.

Reid's goal at 6:46 of the fourth quarter made it a three-goal game but that's as close as the Raiders would get. AU tacked on a late score to provide for the final tally.

Stats were fairly even with MSOE conceding a 38-33 discrepancy in shots and 29-22 in ground balls. The Raiders did convert five fewer turnovers, 21-16, and were successful on 21-of-23 clears against 16-for-19 by AU.

The Red & White looks to rebound when it returns to action Saturday against Cornell College.