SCRANTON, PA – The Wilkes University men's lacrosse team used a balanced offensive attack to record its first victory of the season as the Colonels bested host Marywood University 11-8 Wednesday afternoon in non-conference play.
 
Wilkes improved to 1-1 overall on the season while Marywood remained winless standing 0-2 on the year.
 
The Colonels opened a 2-0 lead with goals from Colby Opromolla (Patterson, NY/Carmel) and Dillon Kadis (McSherrystown, PA/Delone Catholic) in the first two minutes of the contest. Opromolla scored off an assist from Tucker Parmer (Ephrata, PA/Ephrata) and Kadis a helper from Opromolla to give Wilkes the early advantage.
 
After Marywood got on the board at the 4:45 mark of the first quarter, Tim Hartka (Phoenix, MD/Calvert Hall) scored on the man-up advantage making it 3-1 with 1:45 left in the opening stanza. Marywood added another goal ten seconds later as the Colonels held a 3-2 lead after one.
 
Marywood tied the game at three thirty seconds into the second quarter before three straight Wilkes goals gave the Colonels a 6-3 advantage with 6:27 left until the break. Opromolla, Kadis on the man-up advantage, and Hartka did it again in the same order. The Pacers scored one more time before the half before Parmer notched his first of the game on the man-down as Wilkes led 7-4 at the break.
 
Marywood continued its comeback attempt to start the third quarter scoring the only goal of the frame as Wilkes kept a two-goal advantage through three. Opromolla notched his hat trick with an unassisted goal with 13:36 on the clock in the fourth quarter to keep the Colonels ahead 8-5. After a Marywood goal, the Pacers botched a loose ball on an errant cross which resulted in an own goal to push the Wilkes lead to 9-6 with just over ten minutes left to play.
 
Austin Sosnovik (New Tripoli, PA/Northwestern Lehigh) and Kadis, the second Colonel to record a hat trick in the contest, put the game away later in the quarter scoring back-to-back goals at 6:03 and 5:18 to seal the road win.
 
Marywood held a 45-44 shot advantage. Wilkes forced 34 Marywood turnovers and were solid on clear finishing 25-of-30. The Colonels also finished with 41 ground balls including a team-high eight from Matthew Warns (Cutchogue, NY/Mattituck).
 
Joseph Marino (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) earned his first win in goal for Wilkes finishing with 14 saves.
 
The Colonels make their 2024 home debut on Saturday hosting Utica University at 1:00 p.m. at Schmidt Stadium. Wilkes fell 9-6 against the Pioneers last season in Utica, N.Y.