MEN: NDNU Downs Grand Canyon in Season Opener, 16-4

New coach, same result for the Notre Dame de Namur men’s lacrosse team.

Senior middie Conrad Clevlen scored a game-high three goals to lead the Argonauts to a 16-4 victory over Grand Canyon in an NCAA Division II game Saturday afternoon in Phoenix.

Sophomore attackman Derek Kimbrough and junior middie Nick Peterson each added three points on two goals and an assist to give Stephen Dini a victory in his NCAA coaching debut. Senior attackman Ryan Hulsey, freshman middie Ryan Jones and senior attackman Drew Comeau all added a pair of goals for the Argos.

Rounding out the offense for NDNU (1-0), freshman middie Kevin Nguyen and freshman attackman Jamie Yergler each finished with a goal and an assist, and junior middie Greg Bearson scored once.

Defensively, senior goalie Jesse Wilkerson saved eight shots.

Grand Canyon (0-1) lost its season opener.

NDNU dominated the game statistically, but it took the Argos until the second half to put it away. NDNU outshot Grand Canyon, 50-19, the Argos had a 48-31 advantage in ground balls and they won 18-of-23 face-offs, with Clevlen going undefeated in about a dozen attempts.

Despite all that, Grand Canyon stayed close for a half. The Argos led 2-1 at the end of the first quarter and 4-1 at halftime before using a 12-goal second half to blow it open.

“I think we started really slow, and I was unhappy with the way we were finishing our shots,” Dini said. “But our defense played really well. We rode hard, and we caused a lot of turnovers on their clears.

“(In the second half), we finished our shots. Our offense was clicking a little bit better, we were getting the turnovers and the conversions on turnovers.”