Newburgh, N.Y. – Senior Danny Kugler (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) led eight different goals scorers with five tallies and Tristan Earle (Millrift, Pa.) assisted on three goals as the Mount Saint Mary College Men's Lacrosse team won its home opener and evened its record on the season with a 17-9 non-conference win over Western Connecticut.
 
The Knights never trailed or were even in the game after scoring the first two goals of the game inside the first 10 minutes of action. Kenneth Gallagher (Northport, N.Y.) scored at the 6:24 mark to open the scoring and Anthony Kearns (Clinton, N.J.) buried Earle's first helper of the night under a minute later to give the Mount an early two goal advantage.
 
Following a Ryan Reuling marker early in the second period brought the Colonials to within 3-2, the Knights scored three of the last five goals of the stanza to carry a slim 6-4 lead into halftime. Kugler and Dylan De Meo (Franklin Square, N.Y.) scored back-to-back goals to push the Mount in front 5-2 and after two Western Connecticut goals sliced the advantage to just one goal again, De Meo found the back of the net in the final minute to give Mount Saint Mary a two goal halftime cushion.
 
The Knights held a 22-16 advantage in shots over the opening 30 minutes of the contest and dominated both face-offs and groundballs prior to the break, holding a 9-3 edge in draws and a 20-8 advantage in groundballs.
 
After combining for 10 goals in the first half, the two teams erupted for nine combined tallies in the third period alone on Wednesday. The Knights, however, would not allow the visitors closer than two goals in the frame and a Ryan Maraio (Staten Island, N.Y.) tally with 48 seconds left in the frame, the Knights fifth of the stanza, gave the Mount an 11-8 edge heading into the final period.
 
Mount Saint Mary spread its seven goals with the first four tallies of the fourth frame and closed the game with two man-up goals in the final three minutes to secure its first win of the campaign.
 
Kugler potted five goals on the night and joined Peter Beidl (Clifton Park, N.Y.) with a team-high seven groundballs. De Meo scored three times for the Knights and added two groundballs, with Nicholas Graziano (Franklin Square, N.Y.), Maraio and Gallagher all scoring twice.
 
Earle finished with four points adding a goal to his three assists and was one of four players to cause two turnovers for the Knights. Gallagher dominated face-offs for Mount Saint Mary, winning a career-high 19 on the night.
 
Senior Christopher Doerr Pleasantville, N.Y.) scored his first win of the year in goal, making a season-high 10 saves, while Perry Cassidy suffered the loss for the Colonials with 15 stops on the night.
 
Western Connecticut was led by four goals and five points from Eric Caldwell, with Matthew Kolasinski leading the team with six groundballs. Bryan Murchsion won 10 face-offs and collected a pair of groundballs for the Colonials.
 
Mount Saint Mary finished the night with the advantage in shots 49-39, shots on goal 32-19, face-offs 19-10 and groundballs 40-26. The Knights had an efficient night in clears, going 18-for-19, and cashed in three man-up goals.
 
At 1-1 overall on the season, Mount Saint Mary returns to the road for a 1:00 p.m. face-off at Bryn Athyn on Saturday afternoon.