COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 2-ranked Indiana Tech men's lacrosse team fell to Columbia College, 12-9, Saturday afternoon at R. Marvin Owens Field in their season opener.
 
Nate Langille scored three goals in his collegiate debut while Louis Czech had two goals and one assist. Andrew Neller went 8-18 in the face-off x and had a team-best four ground balls while Tom Piotrowski had three caused turnovers. Evan Schuster made nine saves in the loss.
 
The Cougars took the lead just 37 seconds into the game as John Thomas scored his first of three goals of the afternoon. Langille knotted the game up at 1-1 with a goal at the 5:46 mark of the first quarter, but Columbia took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. The hosts exploded for six goals in the second quarter, scoring two goals on the extra man-opportunity while scoring three times in the final five minutes of the half to hold an 8-2 lead at the break.
 
Finding themselves trailing 10-4 heading into the final 15 minutes of regulation, the Warriors looked up at a 12-4 deficit as the Cougars scored twice in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter. Langille would score twice though in the next two minutes to give the Orange and Black some momentum, while three more goals in a four-minute span would breath more live into the comeback attempt, but Joe Solin's goal with 4:39 remaining would be the last of the game for Tech. The Cougars held the Warriors to just one shot on goal in the final four minutes of the game to knock off the preseason Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) favorites.
 
Tech (0-1) returns to action on Sunday as they take on Ottawa University in a neutral site matchup. Opening faceoff is set for 1 p.m. from R. Marvin Owens Field on the campus of Columbia.