ALBANY, N.Y.- The College of Saint Rose men's lacrosse team commenced the 2023 season this evening against Mercy College, with the #2 nationally-ranked Mavericks taking the 21-12 victory at Sullivan Field.

Junior attack Cam Smith netted six goals in the setback for the Golden Knights. Sophomore midfield Nathan Ham tallied a pair of goals as well. 

After Mercy scored three times in the early moments of the first quarter, the Golden Knights responded with goals by midfielders Gabriel Nish and Jackson Spikereit to narrow the margin to 3-2. The Mavericks would close the half with an 9-4 run to take a six goal lead into halftime.

The Mavericks lead expanded in the third quarter after the visitors owned five of the six goals in the frame.

Fifth year attacker Brady Kearnan scored six times to lead Mercy, while graduate student Jack Gibbons added four goals in the win for the 2022 NCAA Division II Championship runner-ups.

The attack duo of senior Eddie Baker and freshman Noah Gibson registered a goal apiece to the Golden Knight offense, while junior goalie Ryan Gainor made nine saves in net.

Prior to today's contest, Saint Rose honored the life of former men's lacrosse student-athlete Matt Frankel in a pregame ceremony. Frankel was a Class of 2023 senior business major and men's lacrosse goalie who passed away on August 2022 from natural causes at home. 

To celebrate the life of Matt, the athletic department and men's lacrosse program invited all Golden Knight student-athletes, as well as any other Saint Rose students, faculty, and members of the Capital Region that had known or were impacted by Matt to join for a moment of silence at midfield of Sullivan Field.

Looking ahead, Saint Rose will next face Frostburg State in a non-conference neutral site meeting on Wednesday, with the 7:00 pm matchup taking place at historic Homewood Field at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.

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