It's a good thing the Genesee Community College men's lacrosse team wasn't intimidated by their opponent's recent successes as the No. 4 Cougars got within three goals in the final minutes against the defending national champion Lazers before falling 14-10 in Syracuse March 24.

None of the opponents Onondaga recently faced came even close to Genesee's efforts in attempting to give the No. 1 Lazers their first defeat. Onondaga averaged more than a 30-goal win margin over their last three opponents – none of which played the Lazers even or better for any quarter.

The Cougars played the Lazers even for two quarters and were never out-scored by more than a pair in the other two in the close contest.

Six Cougars had multi-point performances that may have been the direct result of Andrew Forte's dominance in the faceoff circle, where he won nearly than two-thirds of his attempts with 17 total wins for the contest.

Evan Hollfelder was Genesee's point leader with four on a pair of goals and pair of assists, while Kevin McParlene led the team in goals with three.

Tyler Thompson and Alex Mack each scored a pair with the former adding a helper and the latter getting the team with three late in the final quarter after a feed from Zach Wade.

Other multi-point performers included Jordan Brennan (one goal, one assist) and Jason Chiodo with a pair of helpers.

Troi Benedict recorded 15 saves in the cage to keep the Cougars within striking distance while adding eight groundballs.

Genesee next hosts Mercyhurst North East March 28 at 7 p.m.