NORTON, Mass. --  Graduate Chris Rasco (Huntington, N.Y.) netted six goals to back a 19-save effort in net from sophomore Dylan Harloff (Rockville Centre, N.Y.), as Clark University notched a 10-6 New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference men's lacrosse victory over Wheaton Saturday afternoon at Mirrione Stadium.

The visiting Cougars (2-1, 2-1 NEWMAC) overcame an early deficit to take a 2-1 first quarter lead on goals by graduate Bobby Philbin (Ridgefield, Conn.) and junior Benjamin Hollerbach (West Hartford, Conn.), but the host Lyons (0-2, 0-2 NEWMAC) evened matters early in the second stanza on first-year Liam Dillon's (Duxbury, Mass.) marker.  Rasco tallied twice in an 84 second span to give Clark a 4-2 edge with 5:39 remaining in the half, but senior Tyler Brown-Ortiz (Milford, Conn.) tied the match with a pair of scores in a five-plus minute span just after intermission.

Junior Mark Zito (Lincoln, R.I.) gave the visitors the lead for good just eight seconds after Brown-Ortiz had knotted the contest, and Rasco added two more markers that provided the Cougars with another two-goal cushion (7-5) heading into the final period of play.  Brown-Ortiz pulled Wheaton to within one with just under 10 minutes to play, but Rasco struck for two scores in a 54-second span to extend Clark's advantage to three before Philbin's second tally of the day with 54 seconds remaining iced the triumph.

Graduate Jack Mandracchia (Melrose, Mass.) collected three assists in the win for the Cougars, who received two helpers each off the sticks of graduates Andrew Hollerbach (West Hartford, Conn.) and Owen Lamerson (Greenlawn, N.Y.) and a single assist from junior Nathan Minkwitz (Norfolk, Mass.).  Harloff made 13 stops in the first 30 minutes of action for Clark, which registered 33 shots overall (23 on goal).

Brown-Ortiz paced the Lyons' attack with a hat trick in their setback, as senior Neal Canastra (Dartmouth, Mass.) made 14 saves in goal for the hosts.  Wheaton recorded 44 overall shots (23 on goal) and held a 12-4 edge in the faceoff circle for the contest.

With the victory, Clark clinched the number three seed in the upcoming NEWMAC Championships, which begin next Saturday with semifinal round play.  Wheaton will host New England College in a non-conference clash next Saturday.