FERRUM, VA – The Wilkes University Colonels men's lacrosse program opened the Blue Ridge Classic on Saturday afternoon with a big game against the Averett Cougars.
 
The Colonels (2-2) outscored the Cougars (2-2) with a 7-1 advantage in the first period and never looked back as they sailed past their first opponent on the weekend in 18-5 fashion.
 
Alex Myers (Cortland, NY/Cortland) started the afternoon with a man-up goal at 13:34 with help from Luke Palladino (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh).  The Cougars answered at 10:40, but the Navy and Gold would rattle off six unanswered to wrap up the first period.  Myers took advantage of another man up at 9:56, before Eric Ormsby (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) made it 3-1 just 19 seconds later with help from Cameron Krisko (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley).  Ethan Weaver (Olney, MD/James Hubert Blake) would score with man advantage at 6:25, before Jacob Kudysch (Stratford, CT/Frank Scott Bunnell) found net at 4:40 with an assist from Krisko.  Myers from Palladino at 3:20 would complete the first period hat trick for Myers and would end up being the game-winning goal.  Tyler Knappenberger (Orefield, PA/Parkland) snuck in under the buzzer with 14 seconds left to make it 7-1 Colonels.  Ormsby would tack on his second of the day at 14:16 in the second, the only goal in an uneventful second period.
 
Averett would find four goals in the third, but the Colonels tacked on six more.  Anthony DelDuca (Westchester, NY/Westlake) found net at 8:22, before Colby Opromolla (Patterson, NY/Carmel) got help from Ormsby at 7:27.  DelDuca would get an assist from Austin Seames (Newton, NJ/Kittatinny Regional) at 4:18, before Weaver would complete his hat trick with a pair of goals at 3:56 and 2:46.  DelDuca would add in his third of the period at 1:06.  The Colonels netted four in the fourth, three man up.  Dillon Kadis (McSherrystown, PA/Delone Catholic) from Myers at 7:16, DelDuca from goalkeeper Daniel Cox (Stratford, CT/Stratford), and Jackson Casper (Bel Air, MD/Bel Air) from Luke Weakland (Sparks, MD/Hereford) at 2:16 made up the advantage goals, while Kyle Sokol (Queensbury, NY/Queensbury) found the back of the net with even strength at 4:00.
 
DelDuca finished with four goals, his career high, while Myers and Weaver each had three.  Ormsby had two assists and Myers one for each of the three to finish the day with four points. 15 Colonels finished the day with a point.  Cox finished the day with six saves and a .600 save percentage in 34 minutes in net, as well as his first career assist.  All four Colonels goalkeepers had time in net today, with Ryan Lasher (Warrenton, VA/Liberty), Joseph Marino (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional), and Nicholas DeVitis (Conshohocken, PA/Plymouth Whitemarsh) combining for eight saves and one goal allowed and Lasher earning the victory.  Marino and DeVitis each recorded their first saves in a Colonels uniform, with Marino having five saves and DeVitis two.
 
The Colonels will play the Ferrum Panthers to wrap up the Blue Ridge Classic at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow in Ferrum, Va. in a rematch of a 2016 affair the Panthers took 17-10 at Ferrum.