BALTIMORE – The Sacred Heart men's lacrosse team earned its first win of the 2017 season Saturday with a 9-8 victory over the Furman Paladins at Tierney Field.

Kevin Cop, Joe Saggese, and Bryce Jurk each had two goals for the Pioneers. Saggese also had an assist for a three-point game. Julian Garritano and Max Tuttle both had a goal and an assist. Ryan O'Donoghue led SHU with three groundballs and three caused turnovers. Brooks Dutton made 11 saves in goal for his first collegiate win.

After Furman (0-4) scored first to open the game, Sacred Heart got back-to-back goals from Tuttle and Jurk to take a 2-1 lead with 1:47 left in the opening quarter. Lou Yovino tied the game for the Paladins with 0:18 left in the first. Sacred Heart scored back-to-back goals to open the second quarter. Jurk put the Pioneers back in the lead with his second goal of the game at the 12:40 mark. Less than two minutes later, Saggese scored to make the score 4-2 with 10:45 left. The Paladins responded with man-up goals by David Williamson and Graham Dabbs to tie the game, 4-4, with 9:16 left in the half. The two sides traded goals to end the half, making the score 5-5.

Sacred Heart (1-1) scored the lone goal in the third quarter. Kevin Cop scored off of a Saggese assist 3:36 into the quarter to give SHU a 6-5 lead. Furman tied the game 6-6 with 11:24 to play in the fourth quarter on Lou Yovino's second goal of the game. The Pioneers broke the tie with three straight goals in the span of 3:09. Saggese broke the tie at the 8:22 mark with his second goal of the game, assisted by Tuttle.

Cop then scored 1:17 later to put SHU ahead 8-6. Brian Masi finished the run with his goal at the 5:13 mark, giving the Pioneers a 9-6 lead. Furman closed the gap to one, 9-8, with 2:01 to play on goals by Jonah Moore and Finn Barry. The Paladins won the ensuing faceoff, but their five shots in the final minute were all off the mark.

Furman outshot Sacred Heart 39-31 and held a 24-18 advantage in ground balls. The Paladins also won 16 of 21 faceoffs.

Sacred Heart is back on the road next Saturday, Feb. 25, for a 3 p.m. game at Dartmouth.