Assistant Sports Editor The Pilgrim boys’ lacrosse team has improved in its second season, but it is still taking its lumps.

The Pats (4-8) took another on Tuesday afternoon, dropping a 17-10 decision to postseason-bound Rogers at home. Defense was the problem against the Vikings, as Pilgrim allowed Rogers to score 11 goals total in the first and last two minutes of each quarter. The Pats have allowed 117 goals on the season, third-most in Division III-South.

“We’ve just got to work on communication,” Pilgrim head coach Blake Simpson said. “You hear me on the sideline just yelling it. When we’re on defense, a lot of guys are just real silent. Other teams know, when you’re silent, you don’t know what you’re doing. So that’s tough. We’ve gotta definitely focus on the defensive end of the game.”

It looked like Rogers (8-4) would run away with the game early after scoring three times in the opening two minutes and 10 seconds. Cameron Edward got the Vikings on the board first with two goals in a 19-second window. He was able to find lanes inside past the Pilgrim defense, opening up close-range opportunities.

Isaac Garcia wouldn’t need to weave through Pilgrim, shooting a laser past Tyler Balutowski to give the Vikings a 3-0 lead and force a Pats timeout.

Pilgrim came out of the timeout aggressive, notching its first goal one minute later when Nolan McCusker beat Costa McKeon on the left side of the net.

The Pats’ top scorer, junior Steve Pezzullo, then lit up the scoreboard. He whipped a shot across his body for his first goal before he deked McKeon less than a minute later to tie the game.

“I just love playing,” Pezzullo, who leads Pilgrim with 49 points this season, said with a smile. “Playing with my best friends. Playing at Pilgrim, having some pride. It can’t get better than that.”

McCusker bounced a shot in with 5:31 left in the first quarter to give Pilgrim its first lead, and Pezzullo completed his hat trick after shaking his defender and slipping a shot past McKeon.

That would be the largest lead of the day for Pilgrim, and it was short-lived.

Rogers captain Mac Leys got his first goal of the game to cut the deficit to one, kicking off a string of seven unanswered for the Vikings. Edward finished off his own hat trick with 1:30 left, and added another for good measure just before the quarter ran out to put Rogers in front again, 6-5.

Colin Greenman kept up the onslaught in the second. Greenman notched his first of seven goals when he was unmarked on the left post. Pilgrim’s defense struggled to neutralize Greenman at close range, allowing him to score the next three goals as well to send Rogers into the half with a 10-5 advantage.

“I think our transition game needs a lot of work,” Simpson said of the offensive struggles past the first quarter. “We left a lot of guys wide open in the crease, easy goals for them. It’s always tough to battle back after that.”

Kyle St. Jean was able to get Pilgrim within four after the break when he ended an 18-minute scoreless streak, and the defense looked stronger in the opening minutes. However, penalties on McCusker and M.J. Rocheleau gave Rogers the man advantage, and Edward converted to boost the lead to 11-6.

Pezzullo looked to grab momentum back for Pilgrim when he scored his fourth goal with 1:53 left in the third quarter, but Rogers struck twice in the final minute to get a stranglehold on the game. Chris Straka got a shot to go just as another McCusker penalty expired, and Greenman deflected a shot off Balutowski’s stick into the twine. The Vikings took a 13-7 lead into the fourth, where they would hold off any Pilgrim comeback attempts.

Pilgrim would get as close as 15-9 with five minutes left in the fourth, but goals from Greenman and Leys sealed the victory.

The Pats have two games left on the schedule as they look to end the season with a flourish. They traveled to Middletown (8-2) on Wednesday afternoon, but results were unavailable at press time.

Pilgrim hosts Warwick Vets (1-10) for senior day on Monday at 7 p.m. in what will be the last contest between the two rivals.

“I’d like to think that third year’s the charm,” Simpson said with a laugh, looking forward to next season. “It’s definitely some growing pains, starting a program, going through little bumps and bruises.”