Senior Judge Murphy recorded five goals and two assists to go along with fellow senior, Ben Hutchinson's four goals and four assists, as the No. 16 St. Lawrence University men's lacrosse team opened their 2024 season with a 15-6 win over Rhodes College on Saturday afternoon, in Memphis, Tenn.
 
Brian Souza added a goal and two assists, while Zack Corsi, Sean Wiseman, Griffin Marx, Daniel Mahoney and Connor Woolley all had goals for the Saints. Paddy Condon posted an impressive mark of 11-16 in the faceoff circle to go along with a team-best six ground balls, while Alex Bechard snagged five.  
 
Wiseman opened the scoring at the 13:56 mark of the first quarter, unassisted, before the Lynx would answer with one of their own just over a minute later. Two straight goals by Hutchinson along with goals from Corsi and Murphy, both assisted by Hutchinson saw the Saints build a 5-2 lead after the first quarter.  
 
St. Lawrence used a dominant second quarter, where they outscored Rhodes 4-0, to take a 9-2 lead headed into the break.
 
Coming out of the break, Rhodes scored early at 12:40, Drew Downes snuck one in for his third of the game.
 
Two more Lynx goals would bring the Saints' lead down to 9-5 with just under two minutes to play in the third, before another Murphy goal just 13 seconds later built a five-goal lead for the Saints, heading into the final stanza.  
 
Another five-goal quarter combined with tough defense saw the Saints extend their lead to 15-6, closing out the afternoon in Tennesse.  
 
"It was a great way to cap off a quick but productive trip," said head coach Mike Mahoney. "I thought we had a great approach to game one and there was a lot that we can build on. We look forward to getting home and preparing for a challenging  upcoming week."
 
Downes led Rhodes with five goals to go along with three ground balls.  
 
Michael Marinello made eight saves between the pipes for St. Lawrence and Andrew Vona made one in relief. For Rhodes, Charlie Herlocher and Josh Salisbury split time in goal, finishing with five and four saves, respectively.  
 
The Saints led in shots 41-32, ground balls 39-28, as well as going a near perfect 23-25 on clear attempts.  
 
St. Lawrence earned its first win of the year, while Rhodes drops to 1-1.
 
The Scarlet and Brown return to action in their home opener against neighboring SUNY Potsdam, February 23rd on the North Country Field at Hall-Leet Stadium. Game start is slated for 3 p.m.