Junior transfer Conor Caffrey scored four goals and assisted on three others, scoring seven points to lead the 10th-ranked St. Lawrence University men's lacrosse team to an 18-2 season-opening win over Castleton at Plattsburgh, New York on Sunday afternoon.

Second to Caffrey, senior captain Jordan Dow also recorded four goals and an assist, while sophomore Brian Cunningham recorded two goals and eight other Saints tallied their first goals of the season.

Nick Brindisi kicked off scoring for the Saints at the 12:21 mark of the first quarter off a swift pass from Dow, while Cal Hynson, Steven Peterson and Caffrey tacked on three goals over a three-minute span to follow, lifting the Saints to a 4-0 advantage.

Caffrey opened the second quarter with back-to-back goals before Kevin McCarthy responded with Castleton's first goal of the game on a man up opportunity with 11:14 to play in the half.

The Spartan's second goal of the game also came in the second frame, when Jason Sedell slipped a shot past Saints' goalkeeper Alex Terry. Dow responded just nine seconds off the faceoff for his third goal of the game, putting the Saints up 12-2. 

St. Lawrence would see goals from Peter Koch, Sam Sweeney, Mike Donnelly, Adam Fontana and two from Cunningham before the end of the game.

"We were happy to get the season kicked off today and get out of the gates quickly," said head coach Mike Mahoney. "I thought Castleton competed very hard and we have a good sense of what our emphasis needs to be on moving forward."

The Scarlet and Brown held a 47-27 ground ball advantage and outshot the Spartans 45-23. Castleton managed a 14-9 faceoff advantage.

Dow and Sweeney each grabbed a team-high six ground balls, while Terry and Matty Corbelle combined for nine saves between the pipes for St. Lawrence. Brandon Myron played just over 51 minutes for the Spartans and recorded 11 saves. 

St. Lawrence captured their first win of the season, improving to 1-0, while Castleton fell to 0-2 overall.

The Saints return to North Country Field for their home opener against SUNY Geneseo on March 10th. Opening faceoff is set for 1 p.m.