BELMONT, Calif. – The Westminster men's lacrosse team started the new season by scoring the first eight goals of an 18-10 win at Notre Dame de Namur on Saturday afternoon at Koret Field.
 
Westminster (1-0) would extend the early advantage to 13-1 before heading to halftime with a 15-2 lead. Notre Dame de Namur (0-1) would outscore the Griffins 83 in the second half, but they never got closer than the final eight-goal margin.
 
"This was a good first game with solid play at both ends of the field," Westminster Head Coach Mason Goodhand said after the win. "Several new faces played well, but we still have room for improvement."
 
Thomas Sarjeant had an impressive start to the new season by tying a school record with seven assists. Sarjeant also scored a pair of goals to finish with nine points, the third-highest total for a game in team history.
 
Cole Flinders collegiate debut featured a game-high five goals and one assist. Josh Holland scored three goals with one assist and Pace Cranney and Dalton Tuor added two goals each.
 
The Griffins took 43 shots in the win with 28 of them on cage. They had a 35-20 edge in ground balls in part to winning 22 of 29 faceoffs. Westminster went 15 of 21 in clearing attempts and score on one of their two man-up chances.
 
Jake Berard had a team-high eight ground balls and won 16 of 19 faceoffs. Blake Bruner and Brian Dejesus had two caused turnovers apiece. Philip Cannell earned the win in cage during his collegiate debut with one save. Conner McFarlane made four stops and Ian Sime made two saves during their time in goal.
 
NDNU got a hat trick from Alex Campbell and two goals from Nichoas Wameling in defeat. Xavier Guerrero took the loss in cage with 10 saves.
 
"We are looking forward to getting back to work this week to prepare four our first RMAC contest," Goodhand added about next week's game.
 
The Griffins will be back in action on February 20 when they play at Colorado Mesa in the first Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game in league history. The game will be played at Walker Field in Grand Junction, Colo. and be broadcast live on Griffins TV.