Bangor, ME - Winter seemed to have reappeared in Bangor just in time for the Husson University men's lacrosse team's season opener against the Nor'Easters of the University of New England. The Eagle offense seemed frozen as UNE ousted the host Eagles 14-6 in the opening game of the year for both teams.

The Eagles received a hat trick by senior attackman Ben Landry (Lewiston, ME) despite the loss, as five of his eight shots on the day were on the cage. Fellow attackers Mitch Heaps (York, PA) and Wayne Stubbs (Keene, NH) each added a tally of their own, as well as Chris Pelletier (Rome, ME) who stuffed one in from his midfield position. Nick Brown (Fort Worth, TX), Chris Lloyd (Oxford, ME) and Jon Sullivan (Rutland, VT) all recorded assists on the day. 

For the Nor'Easters, Geoff Bruno (Durham, CT) led the way with three goals and a pair of assists, while Dan O'Gorman (Putnam Valley, NY) had a hat trick along with an assist for four points. Nick Gross (Kennebunk, ME) had a hat trick and was matched in points by Tyler Thomas (Mount Pleasant, NY) who had a goal and a pair of assists on the day. Dylan Thomas (Mount Pleasant, NY), Matt Anderson (St. Paul, MN), George Jenkins (Natick, MA) all pitched in a goal and an assist as well. Eddie Burke (Windsor, CT) rounded out the UNE scoring with a goal. 

The University of New England jumped out to take the lead on an Anderson goal from O'Gorman with the 13:41 in the first. The Nor'Easters added two more, the first one from Gross and the second by Tyler Thomas on a man-up opportunity, to end the first half with a 3-0 lead. UNE kept up the momentum in the second half, tallying five more in the second to take an 8-0 lead into the half. 

In the second half, it started looking like more of the same as the University of New England added three more goals, peaking at an 11-0 margin with 4:45 left in the third. Landry broke through with the first of the day for the Eagles, scoring an unassisted tally with 3:59 left in the period. Gross scored his third of the game just a minute later and the game went to the 4th with UNE leading 12-1.

Husson had possession in the box with a man-up opportunity when time expired in the third, meaning they started with the ball in a similar situation to start the final quarter. it took just 11 seconds for Brown to find Landry who stuffed it home for the second Eagle goal. Bruno added an unassisted tally just thirty seconds later to bring the UNE lead back to 11. The Nor'Easters grabbed their biggest lead of the game with 12:34 left to play as O'Gorman scored from Bruno on an Extra Man Opportunity. 

The Eagles finished the game on a strong note scoring the last four goals of the game. Stubbs scored in transition on the assist from Sullivan. With 4:25 remaining, reserve goalie Jay Letendre (Southington, CT) was called for a 3 minute penalty (cross check with contact to the head) causing the Nor'Easters to change goalies once again. Husson would add three more after the penalty, first from Heaps at 2:12 remaining, then another unassisted goal from Pelletier, before Landry closed things out with a goal from Lloyd with just 23 seconds to play. 

Head Coach Tim Murphy was disappointed with the outcome but still remains positive when looking at the season, "We'll take what we can from this and then flush it. We're looking forward to next week. We've got a few things we need to work on and once we go back to the basics and fix some things, I have no doubt we will be more successful throughout the season."

Husson will travel to Porland's Deering High School's Memorial Stadium where they will meet St. Joseph's College (ME) on March 3rd at 12:30 pm. UNE will return home to Biddeford, ME for their next game also on March 3rd, hosting Wheaton (MA) for a 1:00 pm start.