Potsdam, N.Y. - A five-goal first half would be just enough for the Clarkson University Men's Lacrosse team as the Golden Knights outlasted the Golden Flyers 7-6 in the season opener at Hantz Field, Saturday afternoon. 

Clarkson jumps out to a 1-0 record in the early going and will return to action on Wednesday, traveling to Oswego State. Nazareth falls to 0-3 overall. 

The Golden Flyers jumped out to an early two-goal advantage behind unassisted tallied from Joey Hathorn and William O'Neill in the opening six minutes. Clarkson would respond with three unanswered before the end of the quarter as Connor Holly, Ethan Hopkins and Alex Alfieri all found the back of the Flyer net less than three minutes apart. 

Peter Siracuse would finish off a feed from Robert Fox less than five minutes into the second before Fox would add a goal of his own with the assist going to Hopkins to stretch the Golden Knight lead to 5-2 midway through the second. The visitors would get one back thanks to the combo of Matthew Farrington and O'Neill, with the goal at the 5:56 mark in the second standing as the final scoring action of the half with Clarkson leading 5-3 at the break. 

Nazareth quickly got back to within one and then tied proceedings up in the third thanks to William Meagher and Kyle Rosenberger who both added scores to knot it up at 5-5, with less than three minutes off the clock. Fox and Holly would again step up for the Knights just minutes later with Fox's goal at 9:44 and Holly's score at 4:19 giving Clarkson a two-goal cushion headed into the final 10 minutes. 

A tightly contested fourth resulted in just one goal between the two teams with open chances hard to come by. Rosenberger added his second of the contest at the 8:58 mark to account for the final addition to the scoreboard on the afternoon. Nazareth witnessed several golden opportunities in front of goal in the waning minutes but a strong defensive effort in the crease from Griffin Emerson, highlighted by two point-blank saves in the final minutes, ensured the 7-6 lead remained intact for the final. 

Clarkson out shot Nazareth 44-28 over the course of the contest, finding the target with 24 of their shots compared to 15 for the Golden Flyers. The Knights closed out the first half a perfect 9-9 on clears and would finish 20-22 overall while the visitors would go 22-27. 

Holly and Fox would both lead the Knights with two goals and an assist apiece while Mario Streiff, Donnie Duffus, and Hopkins all added an assist themselves. Jack Garvey led the defensive effort with three caused turnovers and three ground balls, Dylan Coan snagged two ground balls while also forcing two turnovers as well. Griffin finished with nine saves in the win while Sven Habitzreuther made 17 for the Flyers.