MORELAND HILLS, Ohio -- A late charge by the home side sent the Pirates down to defeat in a non-conference Saturday matinee. Rocky River was held scoreless over the final 20 minutes of play in a 12-3 loss at University School.

When Rowan McDougal netted a goal at 8:01 of the third quarter, the Double-R was deadlocked in a defensive struggle with the host Preppers. Each side had produced three goals through 28 minutes of action. Each side would produce no goals in the next four minutes. And then?

Beginning at the 3:59-mark of the third, the Preppers unleashed a flurry of scores, getting two goals in a seven-second span, three in 40 seconds, and five before the teams would break before the final quarter. McDougal's opposite number -- senior midfielder Campbell Crowley -- netted two of those goals and would score six for the game.

US closed out the Scovil Field conquest with four more unanswered goals in the fourth.

For the game, the Pirates (4-3) outshot the Preppers 27-26, but the home side put 19 shots on frame to River's 14. The Pirates were a minus-2 in turnovers (12 to 10) and a plus-3 in ground balls (34-31). US took 10-of-19 faceoffs.

Rocky River's first-half goals -- both in the second period -- were scored by Wes Bennett and Tyler Fortune. Other box-score highlights for the Pirates included McDougal, Trent Delventhal, and Robby Lang notching five ground balls    each. Delventhal added a career-high five caused turnovers.

The loss at US snapped a four-game winning streak for the Sons of Blackbeard whose next contest is slated for Monday night (vs. Olmsted Falls, 6 p.m.--Rocky River Stadium).