Junior Mark Mahoney scored five goals, added two assists and picked up five ground balls to lead the 16th ranked St. Lawrence University men's lacrosse team to a 14-10 season-opening win over No. 12 St. John Fisher on Saturday afternoon at North Country Field.

First-year Judge Murphy recorded a hat trick with three goals, while Peter Koch added two goals and two assists for the Saints. Ben Murtagh, Zadoc White, Jack Hennessey and Stew Hutchinson also scored for the Scarlet and Brown. Brendan Brigham went 12-for-25 at the faceoff dot and recorded a team-best six ground balls in his first collegiate game, while Patrick Abad caused four turnovers and Dan Robinson caused two.

The Saints got off to a hot start, taking a 6-1 lead over the Cardinals early in the second quarter.
 
The Cardinals then added three in a row to bring the game back within two (6-4). Mahoney tallied a man-up goal off the pass from Chris Jordan with 21 seconds to play in the half, but Nicholas Miller recorded his second of the game with one second remaining to cut the Saints' lead back to two.
 
After trading two goals apiece, the Saints recorded three in a row from Hutchinson, Koch and  Mahoney to take a 12-7 lead and secured the win with two more goals in the fourth quarter.
 
"As I told the team after the game, the energy out there felt like the culmination of every holiday and birthday over the past year that hasn't been quite the same," said head men's lacrosse coach Mike Mahoney '93, P '22, '24. "Fisher is a good team and we really had a number of step up in big situations which was awesome to see."
 

 
Miller led the Cardinals with two goals and two assists, while Ian Evans added two goals and one assist. Matthew Kemmis also tallied two goals, while four other members of the St. John Fisher squad scored once. Joe Post went 11-for-22 at the faceoff dot and recorded six ground balls.
 
The Saints outshot the Cardinals 51-28, including a 30-20 advantage in shots on goal.
 
St. Lawrence goalkeeper William Helm recorded his first collegiate win with 10 saves, while Darin Eakins made 16 for the Cardinals.
 
"I'm proud of the effort today and we continue to be thankful for the opportunity that St. Lawrence has provided for us, Mahoney added."
 
St. Lawrence improved to 1-0 on the season, while St. John Fisher fell to 3-2.
 
The Saints are scheduled to play Vassar in their first Liberty League game of the season on Saturday, March 27 in Poughkeepsie, New York.