WHITTIER, CA. -- Gwynedd Mercy suffered their first loss of the season as a big fourth-quarter rally came up just short in an 11-10 decision at Whittier College late Tuesday night.

Ryan Simpson scored three times, Nick Freda added two scores and an assist while Kohler Setley scored once and handed out three assists. The Griffins trailed 11-6 with nine minutes in the fourth quarter before putting together a four-goal stretch with their final tally coming with just over a minute remaining to make it a one-goal contest.

The Griffins were 3-of-6 on man-up opportunities, winning 13-of-26 faceoffs. Joey Giordano won 11-of-17 while Nick Heiler was 2-of-7.

Gwynedd netted two of those man-up goals in the first as the teams traded scores for a 3-3 stalemate after the first 15 minutes. Freda and Dzierzgowski cashed in on two Poet penalties as well as a goal from Simpson.

Whittier limited GMercyU to a single score in the second, to take a 6-4 score into halftime. Derek Alcavage and Freda tallied in the third, setting up an 8-6 score heading into the final stanza. The Poets netted the three early goals of the fourth to take an 11-6 advantage. However, during that stretch, the game was halted for almost an hour due to lightning in the area.

Once action resumed, Ryan Gartenmayer and Dan Decker added scores to try and pull Gwynedd back in it. Simpson notched his second man-up goal with 4:09 left to force the Poets to call a timeout. Simpson struck again with just over a minute to play, but the ensuing faceoff was won by Whittier. After a holding penalty put Whittier on the man up with just over 30 seconds, the Poets were able to fend off Gwynedd for the one-goal final.

Giordano and Shawn Ryan each collected three groundballs while Bryan Butler added three caused turnovers, a career high.

Goalie Aubron Swartley made seven saves in net. Whittier's Dakota Turgeon recorded 14 stops.

Gwynedd Mercy concludes their West Coast Trip with a game against Emerson on Thursday starting at 6 p.m. EST.