Lexington, Va. (February 14, 2015)--Freshman Mike Moynihan scored three goals as Mount St. Mary's opened the 2015 men's lacrosse season with an 11-8 win at VMI on Saturday.  Mike Pascali and Clayton Wainer each added a pair of goals for the Mountaineers in the win.

After VMI (0-3) took an early 1-0 lead, the Mountaineers scored the next three goals to take a 3-1 advantage.  Wainer opened the scoring for the Mount with an unassisted goal midway through the first quarter.  Moynihan converted a pass from Brent Tsang just 30 seconds later to give the Mount the lead, and Pascali's first goal of the game on a feed from Spencer Smith lifted the Mount to a two-goal advantage.

VMI scored three times in the opening there and a half minutes of the second quarter to regain the lead.  The Keydets took advantage by scoring a pair of goals on a Mount three-minute non-releasable penalty to open the quarter.  Brad Biondello then gave VMI the lead with 11:25 left in the second quarter.

The Mount answered back with consecutive goals from Evan Gormley and Moynihan, but VMI's Mike DeBlasio scored with 4:25 left in the quarter to even the score.  The game remain tied at 5-5 at the half.

Mount St. Mary's scored a pair of goals just one minute apart early in the third quarter to take a 7-5 lead.  Bubba Johnson connected for the first score while Moynihan completed his hat trick.  VMI's Wesley Sanders countered with a goal to make it a 7-6 game heading into the final quarter.

The Mount, however, took control with goals by Pascali and Wainer to take a 9-6 lead with 7:36 remaining.  DeBlasio's goal with 5:28 left made it a two-goal game, but Ryan Lamon scored on an extra-man opportunity with 2:00 left to push the margin back to three.  Smith and VMI's Tyler Prasnicki exchanged goals in the final 28 seconds for the final margin.

Moynihan (3g), Wainer (2g, 1a) and Smith (1g, 2a) all had three-point games for the Mount in the victory.  Freshman Matt Vierheller made 11 saves while allowing eight goals to earn a win in his first collegiate start for the Mount.

Defensively, Nick Firman had eight ground balls while Alex Stefkovich and Kyle O'Brien each had three caused turnovers for the Mount. 

DeBlasio had two goals and an assist to lead VMI while Brad Nardella and Biondello each had a goal and an assist in the loss.  Evan Windisch made six saves while allowing 11 goals in the cage.

The Mountaineers outshot VMI, 34-27, in the game, including 21-to-12 in the second half.  The Mount also won the ground ball battle (33-31) while converting 2-of-3 extra-man opportunities.

The Mountaineers welcome Delaware to Waldron Family Stadium on Friday, February 20, at 4:00 p.m. for the home opener.