Valley, AL – The third-ranked UC men's lacrosse team set new program records for most goals in a quarter, most goals in a game, and largest margin of victory in the Patriots 26-3 season opener over Point Saturday afternoon at the River Bowl Stadium. In addition to the offensive explosion which saw 14 different players score at least one goal, senior Kody Swann record his 500^th career face off win as well as his 200^th career ground ball in the game.

The Patriots offense got hot quickly scoring a program record ten goals in the opening period.  Dalton Smith got the scoring started with an unassisted goal a minute in.  Caleb Elerick netted back-to-back goals, before Smith connected on a man-up goal to extend UC's lead to 4-0 with 8:54 remaining in the opening period.  Sam Collinson, Dylan Crouch, and Whitten McCune each connected with the back of the cage over the next four minutes of action.  Later in the quarter, Thomas Fogarty tallied his first goal of the season, before Jake Mitchell connected with Elerick in the closing seconds of the period for his second assist of the game.

Cumberlands continued their offensive dominance in the second quarter as Elerick found Fogarty cutting toward the cage for a goal to make it 11-0 at the 13:00 mark.  Playing man-down didn't slow down the attack as Henry Quaye found Elerick for a man-down goal two minutes later.  Point looked to get on the board but Will Settle made seven of his nine save in the second quarter keeping the Skyhawks scoreless.  Cumberlands added four unanswered goals, including one from Nick DiFranco, the reigning AAC Player of the Year, to take a 16-0 lead at the break.  This marks the most consecutive goals scored by the Patriots since February 25, 2017 when they defeated Clarke 16-0.

Point (0-2) got on the scoreboard five minutes into the second half as Kirby Gracia found Chase Parker for a goal.  Swann won the ensuing faceoff and on the Patriots possession Quaye netted an unassisted goal to push the lead to 17-1.  Alex Heckler and Brian Mahadeo both recorded their first collegiate goal as part of a 5-1 run to extend Cumberlands lead to 22-2 after three quarters.

Mason Kraps, George Shunnarah, DiFranco and Devon McMillin each notched a goal in the fourth quart for the 26-3 final.

The 26 goals are the most in program history and marks just the third time in the four-year history of the program that UC netted at least 20 goals in a game.  The other two times came during the 2016 season against Montreat and University of Saint Mary.

Elerick led the way for the Patriots with five goals and an assist, while Fogerty finished with five points.  Smith netted four goals as Mitchell dished out three assists.  Swann went 16-26 on faceoff and scooped a game high 12 ground balls. 

Settle made nine saves in the first half, while Dustin Soper made five second half saves in the win.

UC returns to action Tuesday, February 19, as they host the defending NAIA champions Reinhardt in their home opener at the UC Lacrosse/Soccer Complex.  The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. with live video available here and live stats here.

For the latest and most up-to-date information on University of the Cumberlands Athletics, please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com. Follow us on Twitter - @UC_Patriots, Instagram - @UCPatriots, SnapChat - @UC_Patriots, YouTube – Cumberlands Patriots, and Facebook by searching University of the Cumberlands Athletics.