PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Feb. 19, 2020 - Chatham (0-0, 0-0) opened up the 2020 lacrosse season with a home matchup against the Raiders of Mount Union (1-0, 0-0). The Cougars finished the 2019 season losing in the first round of the PAC playoffs to Grove City, ending the season with a 9-7 overall record and 4-3 in the conference.

The Cougars would get things started, scoring the game's first goal off of a shot from sophomore Jake Brown for his first goal of the season. Minutes later, they would add a second goal from first year Tyler McAnany to make the score 2-0 with under seven minutes in the quarter. Less than a minute later Mount Union answered back with a goal from Logan Addonizio to put the score at 2-1.

Mount Union woke up in the second quarter, scoring two back to back goals in the opening minutes of the quarter to take a 3-2 lead. Both teams continued to battle through the quarter, with Chatham trailing by one goal 6-5 with 5:48 left until the half. The Raiders scored one more goal before the end of the half to give them a 7-5 lead over Chatham going into halftime.

The Raiders opened the second half with another goal giving them an 8-5 lead, but Chatham continued to chip away at the three goal difference. The Cougars piled on two goals in under a minute to put themselves within one of the Raiders half way through the quarter. After five minutes of scoreless play, sophomore Michael Porreca scored the equalizing goal tying the score at 8-8.

In the final quarter, Mount Union again would go out ahead of Chatham 11-9 after scoring consecutive goals in under a minute of action. The Cougars again would climb their way out the deficit, eventually tying the score again after junior Dillon Dugan scored his lone goal of the game. The two opponents scored one more goal each to tie the score at 12-12 with one minute to play in the game. With the final seconds ticking off the clock, Jake Brown would make a move around the net, trying to edge out his defender to get an open shot at the goal. Brown, barely able to find an angle, flipped an over the shoulder shot that would find the back of the net giving the Cougars a 13-12 victory.

Brown led the Cougars in goals with four on the day, while sophomore Nick Guaglione scored three goals with three assists in his first collegiate lacrosse game. Junior Ben Neal scooped up a team high eight ground balls in the victory.

Chatham is back in action Saturday, February 22nd as they will take on Lebanon Valley on the first day of the two day weekend tournament.