Game Highlights 

Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Lacrosse team recorded the first shutout in program history on Saturday with an 18-0 blanking of visiting Wheelock in its 2016 season opener. Dylan De Meo (Franklin Square, N.Y.) led the offensive charge with eight points, including five goals.
 
Mount Saint Mary got all the scoring it would need inside the first five minutes of action when freshman Vincent Escudero (Bridgewater, N.J.) tallied his first career goal at the 10:20 mark of the first period. The goal was the first of three for the Knights in the opening stanza, with Danny Kugler (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) and De Meo adding first period markers.
 
The Knights blew the game open in the second quarter with seven goals to take a commanding 10-0 lead into the intermission. DeMeo scored three more times in the second quarter and Kenneth Gallagher (Northport, N.Y.) found the scoring column twice in the second frame. Tristan Earle (Milford, Pa.) assisted on two goals in the second and added a tally for the Knights.
 
Mount Saint Mary controlled the opening 30 minutes, outshooting Wheelock 29-8 and posting a 27-13 advantage in groundballs.
 
The Mount allowed just one shot in the third period and scored five more times in the quarter to build its lead to 15-0. Kenneth Atkins (Wallkill, N.Y.) scored twice in the period and De Meo picked up a pair of assists. De Meo added his fifth goal of the game, a man-up score, in the fourth quarter.
 
Mount Saint Mary had eight different players score a goal in the game and featured five players with a goal and an assist. De Meo added three helpers to his five goals and Earle assisted on five goals and totaled six points in the victory.
 
Kugler finished the day with five points, scoring three goals and assisting on two others and Gallagher rounded out a strong day with four markers for the Knights.
 
Kugler paced the team with eight groundballs, with De Meo and Escudero each scooping five for the Mount in the contest. Brodie Nuzzi (Levittown, N.Y.) finished the day with four caused turnovers for Mount Saint Mary.
 
Christopher Doerr (Pleasantville, N.Y.) and A.J. Galleta (Commack, N.Y.) combined on the shutout in goal for the Knights with each making four saves in the game. Doerr made the start and worked the first half earning the win, securing one groundball. Noah Horning suffered the loss for Wheelock, making 19 saves in the game.
 
Mount Saint Mary finished the game with a 48-18 advantage in shots, including a 37-8 edge in shots on goal. The Knights won the groundball battle 47-27 and won 13 of the 20 face-offs taken in the game. Brendan Nestola (Merrick, N.Y.) won 10 face-offs for the Knights on the day.
 
Saturday's win pushes Mount Saint Mary to 1-0 overall on the season. The Knights will be back in action on March 1 when they welcome Bard to Newburgh. Face-off with the Raptors is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.

Follow the Knights on Twitter@MSMCKnights and on Flickr