COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College men's lacrosse team lost its home opener to Clarkson University, 17-7, on Wednesday at Duffy Field. The Purple Knights were tied for fifth in the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (NEILA) preseason poll.

RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (0-2), Clarkson (2-0)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Junior Drew Collins (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna), 3 goals, 4 ground balls
• Senior Kyle Hirshom (Walpole, Mass./Walpole), 1 goal, 2 assists, 2 ground balls, 2 caused turnovers
• Junior Max Katavolos (Newburyport, Mass./Newburyport), 1 goal, 2 assists
• Senior Joseph Gerardi (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury), 1 goal
• First-year Sebastian Simonson (Spruce Grove, Alberta/Spruce Grove Composite), 1 goal
• First-year Ethan Hughes (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull), 1 assist
• Sophomore Spencer Scardino (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna), career-high 19 saves in 53:11
• Sophomore Josh Jenkins (Tyngsboro, Mass./Bishop Guertin), 5 faceoff wins
• Junior Brian Sardella (Billerica, Mass./Billerica Memorial), 3 caused turnovers
• First-year Sean Regan (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Sutherland), 6:49 of relief in net

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Sophomore Connor Matthews, 5 goals
• Junior Sebastian Geiger, 3 goals, 1 assist
• Senior Bryan Penney, 3 goals
• Sophomore Matt Reilly, 2 goals, 1 assist
• Junior Thomas Fiebich, 3 assists
• Senior KJ Sarni, 2 goals
• Junior Matthew Hansen, 15-for-21 faceoffs, 9 ground balls
• Graduate student Jacob Mattice, 11 saves in 56:44
• Junior Logan Wilkinson, 6-for-7 faceoffs, 3 ground balls
• Senior Matt Yonko, 1 save in 3:16 of relief

GAME FACTS

• The teams had met only once before, on March 19, 1989, on the campus of Syracuse University.
• Collins netted his first college hat trick. 

THE ACTION

• Gerardi's tally 50 seconds into the game was met by Penney's strike at 12:27 of the opening quarter, but Hirshom put the Purple Knights back ahead, 2-1, off of Katavolos' feed during an extra-man opportunity at 8:14.
• Clarkson responded with seven of the next eight goals, led by Penney's two goals. He and Reilly both potted man-up tallies in that time, around a Collins man-up goal thanks to Hughes' feed at 6:53 of the second period. The Golden Knights led 8-3 by 13:56 of the third period after Geiger scored.
• Simonson found the back of the net at 11:07 thanks to Hirshom's helper before Collins cut the deficit to 8-5 with 8:05 left after a Katavolos pass.
• Four different Clarkson players scored in an ensuing 4-0 run over a 6:37 stretch.
• Collins and Katavolos added fourth-quarter goals, with Hirshom assisting the former, but Matthews netted three of his team's final four goals. 

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Sunday vs. No. 18 Bentley University, 1 p.m.
• The Falcons' national ranking is according to the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA).