SWANSEA University went down 32-24 to Cardiff Met in the annual South Wales Students Rugby League Challenge match.
An early hat-trick by centre Joel Knight put Cardiff in command.
Swansea got a try back on the half hour through Owain Morgan and they broke through again just after the interval when Dan Williams scored in the corner.
But Cardiff hit back when Louis Singleton twisted his way through.
Swansea scored again via George Smith, then Williams claimed a fine solo try which Smith converted to bring the score to 22-18.
But Cardiff Met secured victory with two tries in the last ten minutes through Josh Trewartha and Dan Henderson.
Smith rounded off Swansea's scoring with his second try.