HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The Lander men's lacrosse team cruised to a 20-4 season-opening road win against South Atlantic Conference-member Coker on Saturday afternoon.
Carter Wilcox paced the Bearcats with six goals, one shy off his career high, and added a pair of assists.
Levi Roest produced his best collegiate game to date with four goals on four shots.
Michael Mattaliano and
Zane Dalpe both scored a trio of goals and Dalpe tallied four assists.
Breton Crewe,
Myles Guthrie,
Chase Hanson and
Brady Myers all scored once for the Blue and Gold in the lopsided victory.
Defensively, Hanson and
Josh Davies caused a pair of turnovers. Crewe won 10 of 13 faceoffs and grabbed seven ground balls in his Lander debut.
Mattaliano opened the Bearcats' 2025 scoring just 2:15 in off a feed from newcomer
Trevor Batastini.
Dalpe pushed it to 2-0 halfway through the opening quarter before Batastini found Hanson with four minutes left. Wilcox made it 4-1 with his first of the day with 2:21 remaining in the first.
Roest netted his first of the day to push the Lander advantage to 5-1 2:55 into the second. Wilcox assisted Myers and made it 6-2 with 8:44 to play in the half.
After the Cobras trimmed their gap to 6-3, the Bearcats went on a 9-0 run bridging the second and third quarters for a hearty 15-3 lead with four minutes to go in the third; Lander led 8-3 by halftime.
Roest and Mattaliano combined for five goals in a six-minute span to close the scoring for the game with less than nine minutes remaining, bringing it to 20-4 Bearcats.
The Bearcats will host Emmanuel (Ga.) in their home opener on Wednesday night (Feb. 5). Face-off is scheduled for 6:00.
