Milford, N.H. (February 23) -- Led by a five-goal, two-assist performance by junior Chris Murphy (Winchester, Mass.), the Saint Anselm men's lacrosse team opened the 2008 season with a 24-3 rout of Emerson College on Saturday afternoon at the Hampshire Dome.

The Hawks got off to a slow start before Matt Surette (Wakefield, Mass.) found the back of the net with 10:11 remaining in the opening quarter off an assist from Ryan McDonald (Bow, N.H.). The Hawks added four more goals, including three in a span of 3:10, to seize the 5-0 lead after one period. In the second period, behind two goals by Murphy and one by Surette, the lead went to 8-0 before Emerson's Joe Greaney (Medfield, Mass.) scored a man-up goal to cut the lead to 8-1. The Hawks were done though as they added two more to take a 10-1 lead into the halftime break. The third quarter was more of the same as the hosts held a 14-2 lead after that period before scoring a pair of man-down goals in the opening 1:07 of the fourth period for a commanding 16-2 lead. After Emerson's Zach D'Agostino (Sandy Hook, Conn.) scored a man-up goal with 8:40 remaining, Saint Anselm ended the game with six unanswered goals for the 24-3 final.

Dan Flynn (Wakefield, Mass.) started for the Hawks and made two saves for his first career collegiate win. Dean Smollar (Fairfax, Va.) played well for the Lions with a 14-save afternoon.

In addition to Murphy's seven-point afternoon, Surette also ended up with four goals, while Jeff Dunkle (Exeter, N.H.) added four and Matt O'Connell (Charlestown, Mass.) had two goals and three assists. In all, 12 different Hawks found the back of the net. Three Lions scored one goal each, while Greaney and D'Agostino also added assists.

With the win, the Hawks sit at 1-0 overall, while the Lions drop to 0-1 overall. Saint Anselm is now back in action on Saturday, February 29th as the Hawks travel to take on Adelphi University. That game will be played at Hofstra University and will begin at 8 p.m.