SCRANTON, Pa. – The Wilkes University men's lacrosse team opened its 2017 season at Marywood University on Wednesday afternoon where it was edged by a 10-6 final.

The Colonels fell to 0-1 on the season.

Both teams got off a shot attempt in the first four minutes, with Marywood getting a shot off that freshman Carter Whittemore (Rochester, NY/West Irondequoit) stopped for his first save in his first collegiate start. Wilkes responded by immediately getting a good clear followed by a wide shot from freshman Connor Daly (Oakhurst, NJ/Ocean Twp.) and a shot on target by sophomore Max Brown (Long Beach, N.Y./Long Beach) that was turned away by the Pacers' goalkeeper.

Marywood got on the board in at 10:16, but Wilkes responded two minutes later when freshman John Wink (Glenside, Pa./Abington) laced a shot that was saved by Marywood, with the following clear chance foiled by freshman Gerard Setteducato (Lake Hopatcong, N.J./Jefferson Twp.), who picked up the goalkeepers turnover and promptly scored the first goal of his collegiate career on a shot from midfield before the goalkeeper could get back in the net to tie the game at one with 8:27 left in the first quarter.

Freshman John Luna (Valley Center, CA/Valley Center) took his first shot at 7:09, but it was turned away and Marywood followed it up by scoring to take a 2-1 lead. Junior Matt LaSorsa (Copiague, N.Y./Copiague) tied the score with 2:26 left in the quarter with an assist from Daly, the first point of his career. The Pacers finished the quarter with two unanswered goals to finish the first with a 4-2 lead.

Marywood entered halftime with a 6-2 lead after notching goals at 10:32 and 8:50 (man up) in the second quarter.

 The Pacers started the third quarter with goals at 14:32, 11:19, and 5:39 before sophomore Matthew Bush (Lake Hopatcong, N.J./Jefferson Twp.) got the Colonels back on the board with an assist from Wink at 3:01.

Marywood got its final goal with 1:50 left in the third quarter.

Junior Glenn Weist (Frackville, PA/North Schuykill) scored his first collegiate goal with 32 seconds left in the quarter with a helper from Brown to end the scoring in the third.

The Pacers came out in the fourth period firing, missing the target on three shots before Wink got his first tally of the season with an assist from Weist to cut the deficit to 10-5 with 13:37 left in the game. 

Both teams had chances over the next ten minutes, with Whittemore coming up with two big saves before junior Nicholas Ruggiero (Califon, NJ/Voorhees) secured his first score of the season with an assist from sophomore JT Weitzel (Hampstead, MD/North Carroll) with 3:37 left to finish the scoring. Wilkes outshot Marywood 4-0 over the final three minutes but was unable to mount the comeback.

Whittemore made 14 saves in his first start.

Wink and Weist each finished with one goal and one assist for two points while Weitzel, Brown, Ruggiero, Daly, Bush, LaSorsa, and Setteducato totaled one point.

The Colonels return to the field for their home opener on Saturday at Schmidt Stadium when they host Keystone for a 1:00 p.m. non-conference game.