GREENWOOD – For the sixth consecutive season, the Lander men's lacrosse team earned a victory in its first game of the season on Saturday afternoon, the 2026 edition coming against the Coker Cobras at Van Taylor Stadium in a 13-11 final.
Playing in front of a filled-in Homecoming Weekend crowd,
Levi Roest made sure to start the season on an exclamatory note when he scored just 13 seconds into the game.
Though the Cobras (1-1) gained a 3-1 advantage by the end of the opening frame, LU followed suit with four goals in a row to make it 5-3 during the second quarter.
Newcomers
Luke Aspnes and
Vince Rappold tied it at 3 before senior
Michael Mattaliano and graduate transfer
Carson Skinner gave the Blue and Gold a two-goal lead.
Chase Hanson's goal with 1:33 left made it 6-4 Lander after 30 minutes.
Lander built off that momentum in the third by pushing their lead to 9-4 over the first 11 minutes of the closing half.
Matt Duarte and
Sean Reilly combined to score that trio of goals – Reilly had a career-high four goals today, as well as a new career-best five points; Duarte added four points.
Coker closed the gap to 9-6 heading into the fourth where they narrowed it further to 10-8 with less than 10 minutes to go.
LU, though, showed poise in its response: three goals over the next 4:20 which brought their lead back up to 5 at 13-8.
The Cobras added three scores over the final four minutes for the final score.
Lander had eight goal-scorers this afternoon: Reilly (4), Aspnes (2), Duarte (2), and Hanson, Mattaliano, Rappold, Roest, and Skinner all had one.
LU outshot Coker 45-34 overall and 25-16 in shots on net. They also won the face-off battle 16-12.
Max Porterfield made five saves in net to pick up the win and transfer
Mitchell Festi led the defense with three caused turnovers and a half dozen ground balls.
The Bearcats will stay home next weekend when they host Lincoln Memorial on Feb. 14. Game time is scheduled for 2 p.m.
