GWYNEDD VALLEY, Pa. – A big fourth quarter lifted Gwynedd Mercy to a 7-4 win over the Centenary University men's lacrosse team on Wednesday afternoon. Senior Nolan Gottshall recorded his third hat trick of the season to lead the Cyclones' offensive efforts.

After Gwynedd Mercy struck for the first goal of the game, the Cyclones responded with back-to-back tallies from Gottshall. The senior's second goal came at 14:02 of the second quarter and gave the visitors a 2-1 advantage. That was all the scoring that quarter would see as the visitors carried their one goal lead into the half.

The Griffins tied the game at 2-2 on a Jacob Snavely goal at 9:47 of the third quarter.

Centenary took the lead back just over six minutes later as sophomore Chris Howell scored off a pass from junior Chris Snow. The visitors led 3-2 with 3:37 remaining in the third.

Gwynedd Mercy once again tied the game, this time on a Joe Simpson goal with 46 seconds left in the third. That goal started a 5-0 run by the home team and gave the Griffins a 7-3 lead with 4:21 to play in the game. Simpson and Snavely both scored their second goals of the game during that stretch.

The Cyclones got one back as Gottshall struck for his third goal of the day with 3:47 left in the contest. That would be as close as Centenary would get as Gwynedd Mercy claimed the 7-4 victory.

Chris Burns made eight saves to earn the win in goal for the Griffins. Freshman Wayne Safreed made 11 saves in the loss for the Cyclones. It was Safreed's fourth game this season with double digit saves.

Gwynedd Mercy held a 37-23 advantage in shots while the Cyclones won nine of the game's 15 faceoffs.

Ryan Simpson led Gwynedd Mercy with three points on a goal and two assists while Joe Simpson and Snavely each scored two goals.

In addition to Gottshall's three goals, the Cyclones got a goal and nine faceoff wins from Howell.

The Cyclones are back in action on Saturday, March 30 when they host DeSales at noon.