ASTON, Pa. - The Neumann University men's lacrosse team opened Atlantic East Conference play with authority on Wednesday afternoon, picking up a dominating 23-8 victory over Immaculata University on senior day.
 
The Knights were paced by a trifecta of attackers on the afternoon. Colin Blake (4 g, 5 a) led the team with nine points, while Drew Conlon (5 g, 3 a) notched eight points and Kyle Daly (6 g, 1 a) picked up seven points. Brett McLaughlin, Max Nice and Emmett Wexler also tallied twice in the win, while Brendan Risley and Jake Marchiafava combined for seven saves in net.
 
On a rainy day that saw the team honor its nine seniors prior to the game, Neumann wasted no time sending a message to the rest of the conference. The Knights scored so many times in the opening quarter that they broke the scoreboard. Neumann found the back of the net nine times in the period and shut out the Mighty Macs to take a commanding 9-0 lead after one quarter. Daly was the offensive catalyst in the frame for the hosts, scoring the first and last two goals in the period for four first quarter goals. Sandwiched in between those tallies, the Knights received a pair of goals from Blake and single markers from Conlon, Nice and Wyatt Belotti.
 
With a comfortable lead moving into the second stanza, Neumann continued to press. Conlon assisted on early second quarter goals from Blake and Wexler to give the Knights an 11-0 lead at the 8:07 mark. Immaculata finally broke through with its first goal a minute later to make it 11-1, but Neumann capped off a stellar first half late in the frame with a man-up goal from McLaughlin to take a 12-1 lead into halftime.
 
After the halftime break, Neumann came out even stronger than before. Keeping their foot on the pedal in the period, the Knights torched the Mighty Macs for 11 goals as the rout was officially on. After McLaughlin and Daly each scored in the first minute of the half to make it 14-1, Conlon was the star of the rest of the quarter, playing a part in five of the team's next nine goals with four goals and an assist. Daly, Nice, Blake and Chris Augustine also scored for Neumann on the 10-0 run to open the quarter, as the Knights took a 22-1 lead. Immaculata finally stopped the bleeding with a goal late in the quarter, but Wexler punctuated the period with another Neumann goal to give the hosts a 23-2 lead after three.
 
The Knights let up a bit in the fourth quarter allowing Immaculata to make the scoreline a bit more respectable with six goals in the frame. Despite the late goals from the visitors, the lead was more than safe as Neumann took home the 23-8 conference win.
 
Neumann (2-1, 1-0 Atlantic East) will have the weekend off before heading to Wesley College next Wednesday, April 7th. The Atlantic East Conference contest is scheduled for 4:00 PM.