JOHNSON, Vt. – Johnson men's lacrosse suffered a 17-6 home loss to the visiting Husson Eagles Sunday morning. The loss saw the Badgers drop to 0-5 on the season and 0-4 in the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) as the Eagles move to 4-6 overall and 3-0 in conference play. 

Taner Cross (East Montpelier, Vt. / U-32) and Andrew Neddo (Barre, Vt. / Spaulding) paced Johnson's offense with two goals apiece while teammates Josh David (Johnson, Vt. / Lamoille) and Jake Eustis (Cumberland, Maine) each supplied one goal.

For Husson, Mitch Heaps  led the way offensively as the senior tallied seven goals and added two helpers in the victory.  Heaps was supported by Brandon Corbo and Dustin Brett who had four and three goals, respectively.  Dillon Shaw, Nolan Brown and Jack White all fired one shot into the back of the net for Husson.

Husson's crisp passing and timely cuts to the front of the goal manufactured plenty of scoring opportunities in the first half with Heaps notching all seven of his goals within the first thirty minutes of play. At the half, the Eagles had the advantage 12-0.

The Badgers were able to rally after the break scoring their first goal from Cross at the 5:16 mark during the third quarter bringing the score to 13-1, Eagles. During the final quarter, the Badgers picked up momentum scoring five times total including three goals in two minutes. At the 12:01 mark, David found the back of the net leading to a face-off won by Husson. The Eagles' Nolan Brown attempted a shot off of a groundball which Jerome saved and then released to Eustis who quickly netted another Johnson goal. Twenty seconds later after a Husson penalty, the Badgers took advantage of their man-up opportunity and scored again, bringing the tally to 16-4. Jack White notched the last Husson goal with 3:10 remaining in the contest while Johnson was able to connect on two more goals, ending the game 17-6.

Riley Costello's (8-3) effort in net with three saves earned him the victory, while Jerome (27-10) got saddled with the loss for Johnson.

Johnson moves on to host Regis (Mass.) College on Thursday at home at 4:00 pm while Husson will next play host to Castleton State College on Saturday, April 13 at 3:00 pm.