Babson Park, FL – Five Patriots score multiple goals as the fifth-ranked UC men's lacrosse team defeated Webber International, in its inaugural game, 19-8 Saturday afternoon.  It marks the third straight season and the fifth time in the program's six year history that the Patriots won the season opener.

Christian Vanover led all scorers with a career-high six goals and seven points.  The six goals are tied for second most in a game in program history.  Dylan Crouch added a hat trick to go along with three assists, while Caleb Elerick, Thomas Fogarty, and Alex Heckler tallied a pair of goals each. 

After having to delay the start of the game due to lightening, the Warriors came out strong winning the opening faceoff and scoring two seconds later to take a 1-0 lead.  UC responded two minutes later as Christian Vanover netted an unassisted goal for the equalizer. The two teams traded goals before Vanover found Thomas Fogarty cutting towards the cage for a goal to give the Patriots their first lead of the game 3-2 with 7:35 remaining in the first half.  Cumberlands added goals from Caleb Elerick, Dylan Crouch, and Vanover to extend their lead to 6-2 after the opening period.

Three minutes into the second quarter Dalton Smith put a well-placed shot into the back of the cage to make it 7-2 in favor of the Patriots.  Jayvon Jamison won the ensuing faceoff and on the Patriot possession Elerick connected with Crouch for a goal to extend the lead to 8-2.  The action continued back-and-forth as the two teams traded goals before Will Settle stopped a Dave Beckler shot to prevent a Webber man-up goal.  From that point, Cumberlands tallied goals from Crouch and Dawson Coltran, to give UC a 12-3 advantage heading into the break.

The second half began similar to the first with Webber taking the faceoff and converting it into a goal to cut the lead to 12-4.  Cumberlands outscored the Warriors 3-0 over the remainder of the period to take a 15-4 lead into the final quarter.  Vanover netted a pair of those goals to give him a career-high six goals. 

The Warriors battled back scoring three unanswered goals in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 15-7.  The score remained that way until midway through the quarter as the Patriots took advantage of a Warrior penalty with Anthony Gray converted the man-up goal to make it 16-7.  Alex Heckler netted a pair of goals as part of a 3-1 Patriot run for the 19-8 final.

Jake Morgan led the UC defense with five caused turnovers, six ground balls, and recorded three faceoff wins.  Jayvon Jamison went 11-19 on the faceoff and scooped four ground balls.  Will Settle earns his first win of the season making a pair of saves in three quarters of action.

Cumberlands will return to the field tomorrow when they to West Palm Beach, FL to face third-ranked Keiser.  The game is slated to begin at 3 p.m. with live video available here and live stats available here.

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