WENHAM, Mass.—Gordon Men's Lacrosse wasted no time registering its first win of the season by handling the Maine Maritime Academy 22-5 at the Brigham Athletic Complex on Wednesday afternoon. The Fighting Scots blew open a four-goal game in the second half by scoring all nine goals in the third quarter and never looked back for the dominant victory.

A quiet first five minutes parlayed into a flurry of goals for the Fighting Scots as their young offense began to settle in. Junior transfer Nick Palandjian (Belmont, Mass.) scored the inaugural goal of the season at the five-minute mark with a nifty double pump fake to beat the keeper.

The rest of the half was all about fellow junior Nico Manganiello (Peabody, Mass.). Gordon's top returning scorer put on a show in the first half, scoring the next two goals of the first quarter to make it 3-0 with 5:50 to go in the period. MMA's Chase Whittemore (Skowhegan, Maine) got one back right before the turn of the period off an assist from Alex Grant-Roy (Biddeford, Maine).

Leading 3-1 after one, Hunter Ward (Fauquier, Va.) scored his first goal in two years on a man-up opportunity off the feed from Nick Tozier (Winston Salem, N.C.). Again Maine Maritime got one back to cut the lead in half, but Gordon was ready with another counter. Manganiello and Palandjian combined for the next three goals and two assists to give Gordon a comfortable 7-2 advantage approaching halftime.

The Mariners were able to get a small run together as Whittemore finished off his second of the game before Grant-Roy added his first of the year with under a minute to go. Maine Maritime had a chance to cut it even further, but a turnover with 10 seconds left gave Gordon a fastbreak the other way. Thor Rasmussen (Fairfax, Va.) launched a prayer that found Manganiello in stride down the right flank. The junior obliged with a quick shot that just beat the buzzer to put the Scots up 8-4 at halftime.

Gordon owned the third quarter from beginning to end, scoring three goals in the first five minutes of the half to go up by seven. The Fighting Scots were able to hold the MMA offense down for the entire third quarter, while putting up a total of nine goals on the board for a hefty 17-4 lead entering the final stanza. Angel Flores (Falls Church, Va.), Nate Distasio (No. Reading, Mass.), Dan Arthur (Manorville, N.Y.), Jacob Hryzan (Lakeville, Mass.) and Rasmussen all added their first goals of the season in the period.

The Fighting Scots added to their lead in the fourth, scoring the four of the period, including hat-trick conversions for the rookies Distasio and Arthur. MMA's Michael Martel (Biddeford, Maine) finally broke a 14-0 run with 2:29 to go in regulation, his first of the season.

Arthur added another goal directly off a face-off for good measure to make it a 22-5 final score.

Gordon controlled the face-off circle, which directly contributed to their victory. Rookies Billy Biegun (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) and Flores won 24 of the 30 chances that ultimately led to hefty 58-14 shot advantage for the Scots.

MMA keeper Daniel Lee (Satellite Beach, Fla.) was kept on his toes for most of the game and finished with 17 saves in his debut. Gordon freshman Jay Gallipo (Dover, N.H.) allowed only four goals in 55 minutes of work to earn his first career win.

Palandjian finished with a team-high eight points with four goals and four assists. Manganiello added two assists to his five goals in the first half. Arthur finished off four goals in the second half, while Distasio also added a hat-trick.

Biegun's faceoff success led to 11 groundballs, while freshman defenseman Tyler Pauls (Littleton, Colo.) was an enforcer with eight caused turnovers.

Grant-Roy was MMA's top point scorer with a goal and two assists.

The Fighting Scots will look to keep things rolling on Saturday when they welcome Eastern Connecticut State at 1 p.m. Gordon was edged by ECSU early in the season last year.

The Mariners will go up a level to play the University of Maine at home on Saturday at 1 p.m. as well.

Strange, but True:

•       Gordon played to a 22-5 score for the second season opener in a row, except this team they fell on the positive end.

Of Note:

• Gordon's 22 goals was its most in game since the Fighting Scots beat Nichols 24-2 during the 2005 season.
•  It was also Gordon's largest margin of victory (+17) since a 2009 matchup with Nichols when the Scots won by the same amount, 21-4.