SCRANTON, Pa. - The Neumann University men's lacrosse team opened its promising 2021 season with a resounding win on Saturday afternoon at Marywood University by a score of 18-6.
 
Drew Conlon (8 g, 2 a) and Colin Blake (4 g, 5 a) were the offensive catalysts on the day for the Knights, while Brett McLaughlin also added three goals and seven ground balls. Jack Newswanger was outstanding on draws, winning 21-of-28 face-offs on the day and Brendan Risley stopped 14 shots to pick up the win in goal.
 
Hungry to get back to its winning ways from a 2020 season that started so strongly, Neumann picked up right where it left off last season, throttling the Pacers from the opening whistle. A Marywood goal at the 7:45 mark of the first frame balanced out an early man-up goal from McLaughlin, but that would be the last highlight for the hosts in the opening quarter. The Knights blitzed Marywood for four goals over the final 6:37 of the frame to take a 5-1 lead after one. Blake led the way with two goals in the period, while Conlon and Max Nice also scored.
 
Continuing to keep its foot on the pedal, Neumann would score the first three goals of the second stanza to punctuate a run of seven unanswered markers. Emmett Wexler's first career goal was sandwiched by a pair of Conlon tallies to open up the Knights' lead to 8-1 with 6:16 left in the half. The Pacers tried to make a game of it with three unanswered goals of their own midway through the frame, but Conlon's fourth snipe of the game late in the quarter gave Neumann a 9-4 lead heading to halftime.
 
As the game moved to the third quarter, the rout was on. The Knights used solid defense and excellent goaltending from Risley to shut Marywood out in the quarter. Neumann tacked on four more tallies in the period themselves, with Conlon playing a part in each of them. The junior attacker had two more goals while also assisting on finishes from McLaughlin and Wyatt Belotti as the visitors built a 13-4 lead moving to the fourth.
 
With the game comfortably in hand in the final frame, the Knights cruised the rest of the way. The Neumann defense was finally beaten for a pair of goals against in the quarter, but the red hot attack found the back of the net five more times. Conlon and Blake capped off their stellar days by each scoring twice more, while McLaughlin also finished off his hat trick as Neumann sealed the 18-6 season opening non-conference victory.
 
Neumann (1-0) will look to keep its momentum rolling when it heads to Montclair State University next Wednesday, March 17th for another non-conference matchup. The contest is scheduled for 4:30 PM.