WHITTIER, Calif. -- The Berry College men's lacrosse team's rally came up short at Whittier College, 12-9, on Wednesday night.

The Vikings dropped to 3-3 and the Poets moved to 2-0.

Christian Akers and Cory Hall both had 3 goals for BC.

Just 31 seconds into the game Akers scored the contest's first goal. Whittier, however, led 4-2 after the first quarter and 9-5 at halftime.

The Poets pushed the lead to 11-5 before the Vikings tallied 4 straight goals. Quentin Johnson's goal with 5:12 remaining in regulation cut the margin to 11-9.

Foster Cunningham of Whittier then scored the game's final goal with 3:30 on the clock. Cunningham led the home team with 3 goals. 

Berry led in shots, 48-39. WC had the edge in ground balls (36-28) and face offs (16-9).

Nick Voso started in goal and took the loss. He allowed 7 goals and stopped 5 shots in 22:50 of playing time. Duncan Tilka played 37:10, allowed 5 goals and made 7 stops for the Vikes.

"Defensively, we played well tonight," said Berry Head Coach Curtis Gilbert. "Whittier is a good team and I think we played much better today. I also thought our freshman goalkeeper (Tilka) came in and made some great saves. Playing tougher teams on spring break will help us during conference play."

The Vikings play at Huntingdon on Saturday.

Duncan Tilka, Photo by: Tony Leon / ActionWestPhotography.com