EDWARDSVILLE – The Wilkes University men's lacrosse team fell 26-5 to the Arcadia University Knights during their Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) opener on Wednesday night.
 
The Colonels move to 2-7 overall and start out 0-1 in the MAC Freedom. The Knights move to 2-6 on the season and 1-0 in conference play.
 
Starting out the game in the first quarter, Wilkes was able to take the lead early after Henry O'Connor (Baltimore, MD/Dulaney) was able to score off an assist from Luke Weakland (Sparks, MD/Hereford) less than a minute in. Then, not even two minutes later, Blake Billingsley (Ephrata, PA/Ephrata) gave the Colonels a 2-0 lead over the Knights. In the last ten minutes of play in the first quarter, Arcadia was able to score four unanswered goals, leading Wilkes 4-2 at the end of the first. The Colonels had six shots in the first quarter and goalkeeper Joseph Marino (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) earned seven saves on 11 shots on goal.
 
Arcadia had 20 shots in the first quarter and goalkeeper Nathaniel Hudgins had two saves on four shots on goal.
 
In the second quarter, the Knights dominated over the Colonels scoring nine goals that went unanswered bringing their lead to 13-2. Wilkes had five shots in the quarter, three of which were on goal. Marino earned three saves on 12 shots on goal in the quarter.
 
The Knights had 20 shots in the second quarter and Hudgins had three saves on three shots on goal.
 
Arcadia kept their streak going scoring 16 goals straight, until Jackson Casper (Bel Air, MD/Bel Air) found the net for Wilkes with just under ten minutes to go in the third quarter. Colby Opromolla (Patterson, NY/Carmel) was also able to score in the quarter for the Colonels, with an assist from Dillon Kadis (McSherrystown, PA/Delone Catholic). The Knights went on to score eight goals in the quarter leading Wilkes 21-4 at the end of the third. The Colonels had six shots in the quarter, five of them being on goal, and goalkeeper Caleb Miller (Mohrsville, PA/Schuylkill Valley) earned two saves on 10 shots on goal.
 
Arcadia had 16 shots in the third quarter and goalkeeper Joseph Tesler had three saves on five shots on goal.
 
The Colonels were able to score once more in the game in the fourth quarter with a goal from O'Connor assisted again by Weakland. The Knights went on to score five more goals, securing their 26-5 conference win over Wilkes. The Colonels had eight shots in the quarter with four of them on target. Miller added three saves on eight shots on goal in the quarter.
 
Wilkes had a total of 25 shots in the game, led by O'Connor and Kadis each with five. They were followed by Weakland with four and Austin Seames (Newton, NJ/Kittatinny Regional) with three. Marino had a total of 10 saves on 23 shots on goal and Miller had a total of five saves on 18 shots on goal.
 
Arcadia had a total of 69 shots in the game and 11 total saves.
 
The Colonels were 16-24 on clears while the Knights were 20-20. Wilkes won a total of 13 face-offs all won by Luke Wawrzynek (Harleysville, PA/Souderton Area), and Arcadia won a total of 21.
 
Wilkes had a total of 35 ground balls led by Michael Rauch (Jackson, NJ/Jackson) with six, followed by Matthew Warns (Cutchogue, NY/Mattituck) with five and L. Wawrzynek with four. Arcadia had a total of 51 ground balls.
 
The Wilkes men's lacrosse team returns to action on Saturday when they travel to Doylestown, Pa. to take on Delaware Valley University at 1:00 p.m. for their second MAC Freedom contest of the season.