ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. - With a snow squall rolling through for half of the game, the Elizabethtown College men's lacrosse team dropped its season opener, falling to St. Mary's 9-8 Saturday afternoon.

With the loss, the Blue Jays open the 2022 season 0-1, while the Seahawks improve to 2-0.

Sophomore Gavin Gismondi tallied his first career hat trick, tallying four points on three goals and one assist. Junior Riley Langen registered a team-high three assists in his Etown debut while seniors Nick Cost and Alex Kilgour finished with a goal and an assist each.

Senior Jude Brown paced St. Mary's, scoring a game-high five goals.

The Blue Jays wasted little time getting on the board in the first minute of the game, as Owen Yake took a pass from sophomore Connor Stewart and rifled home the first goal of the season with 14:22 on the clock. After the Seahawks tied the game at one, Etown rattled off three straight goals, capped off by a strike from Gismondi, making the score 4-1 after one.

St. Mary's responded in the second quarter, holding Etown scoreless and scoring three of its own to tie the score at four heading into halftime. 

The Seahawks added another goal at the start of the third quarter before Etown stole back the momentum with three straight goals coming from Cost and two from Gismondi to take a 7-5 lead with 3:30 remaining in the third period. 

The momentum swung back in favor of the visitors towards the end of the third quarter, as St. Mary's went on a 4-0 run to take a 9-7 lead, capped off by a man-up goal from senior Noah Kellner, with 7:30 remaining in the game. Senior Micah Ballew pulled the Blue Jays back within one with just 5:30 on the clock and then Etown earned possession with 20 second remaining in its offensive third. The Blue Jays, however, were unable to get a shot off and the Seahawks improved to 2-0 on the season with the 9-8 victory.

Brayden Franey and John Tabott (0-1) combined for 16 saves in the loss, while senior Kyrle Preiss (2-0) made 11 saves in the win. 

Elizabethtown held a slight faceoff advantage, as senior Danny Gilbert won 12-21 with six ground balls. Sophomore Connor Stewart matched Gilbert with six ground balls and a team-high three caused turnovers.

The Blue Jays remain at home with a game on Wednesday,  February 23 against Arcadia. Opening faceoff is set for 4 p.m.