PAINESVILLE, OHIO - The debut of lacrosse at Lake Erie College got off to a good start, but the Storm men couldn't keep that momentum up in an 8-4 season-opening loss at Less-McRae College on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 28).

The Storm (0-1) struck first with freshman Keegan Bal (Coquitlam, B.C./Centennial Secondary) scoring the first goal in program history off a feed from classmate Andrew Donatelli (Galena, Ohio/Olentangy).

The lead would be short lived, however, as the bobcats (2-0) responded with four unanswered goals to take a 4-1 lead into halftime.

The teams played nearly even in the second half, with the Storm scoring three goals.  Freshman Josh Becker (Salamanca, N.Y./Salamanca) scored twice while classmate Joeyjohn French (Tully, N.Y./Tully) added the other goal.

The Bobcats found the net four times in the second half to post the 8-4 final.

"We had stretches were we looked good," said head coach Greg Stocks. "But we also had stretches were we made a lot of freshman mistakes. But overall, for our first time out, there's certainly plenty of things to build on."

The Storm will play its first East Coast Conference match on Saturday, March 6, against NYIT in Old Westbury, N.Y..  The 2008 national champion Bears are currently ranked third in the country.   

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