The Elizabethtown College men’s lacrosse team finished off their first game of the season with a defeat against Coast Guard Academy Saturday, Feb. 16.

Over the course of the game, Coast Guard managed to score 10 goals, while the Blue Jays only pulled off one goal halfway through the second quarter.

The Bears took strong lead early in this game, scoring five goals within the first quarter alone. The opposing team shot and scored four goals in a row just between times 11:22 and 9:57, with Coast Guard player Benner Geurtsen shooting one more goal during the last few minutes.

Later, junior Mike Scrafano scored Etown’s only goal of the day and his first personal goal of the season, assisted by senior Ben Hiltebeitel.

Although Coast Guard slowed down and scored only once in the second quarter and twice in both the third and fourth, this wasn’t enough to save Etown and earn them a victory.

“Opening the season with a big loss is never encouraging, especially after a long trip up there,” Hiltebeitel said regarding the loss via email.

“I was however encouraged to see how my teammates responded to the situation, and even though the game was not going how we wanted everyone was still invested and played to the final whistle.”

Despite the loss, the Blue Jays were active in this game, making 24 total shots. Scrafano made five shots in total during the game, with first-year Nick Cost making four shots and junior Mike DiGenova making his third by the fourth quarter. Coast Guard goalie Trey Johnson was in top form, and managed to save the majority of Etown’s attempts.

Via email, Hiltebeitel expressed his optimism about the future of the season.

“I think we have some great leaders and I’m looking forward to seeing what this team can do in the remainder of the season with a tough schedule ahead,” he said.

The Blue Jays lacrosse team will return in a game against St. Mary’s College of Maryland Saturday, Feb. 23 at 3 p.m.