Facing another top opponent, No. 5 St. Ambrose came up short against No. 3 Cumberlands Sunday afternoon in Williamsburg, Ky. The Patriots jumped out to a 5-1 lead after the first quarter. The Bees battled back but dropped the contest, 12-9, at the UC Lacrosse Complex.

Cole Danner netted a hat trick and had two assists, and Nolan Hayes made 25 saves for SAU.

Down 9-2 with 10:30 left in the third quarter, St. Ambrose (0-2) rattled off five straight goals. Tyler Yetka started the run with an unassisted goal with 9:37 remaining in the frame. Michael Shakerin and Danner scored goals a minute apart to make it 9-5 with 3:55 to go in the period. Danner found Makaile Shaddix for the next Bee score to make it a three-goal game. With 29 seconds left in the quarter, Danner found the back of the net to cut the deficit to 9-7 heading into the final frame.

Cumberlands (2-0) started the scoring in the fourth on a goal from Tanner Popovich to push their lead back to three with 13:21 to go. St. Ambrose got back-to-back scores from Yetka and Danner to make it a 10-9 game with 5:21 remaining. But the Patriots would get two goals from Maalek Wilson to close out the contest.

The home team jumped out to an early lead, scoring three straight before Matt Cortopassi found the back of the net to make it 3-1 with 10:47 to go in the first quarter. The Patriots would add two more in the frame for a 5-1 lead heading into the second.

Cumberlands scored twice to increase their lead to 7-1 with 10:52 left in the second quarter. Isaiah Hahn found the back of the net to make it a 7-2 halftime score. The Patriots scored two goals out of the break to make it 9-2 before SAU went on their scoring run.

Adam Kraft collected three ground balls on the day, while Shakerin, Yetka, Shaddix, and Dominic Della Vedova collected two. Kraft, Shakerin, Hayes, and Dawson Dickerson each caused a turnover for SAU.

The Bees will continue to take on quality opponents, as they will face No. 2 Indiana Tech on Wednesday, February 22nd at 10 a.m. in Westfield, Ind.