Old Westbury, N.Y. (March 1) -- In the season opener on Sunday afternoon, the Saint Anselm men's lacrosse team fell to No. 1 NYIT by a 19-8 final at President Stadium in non-conference play.

The Bears, the defending NCAA Division 2 national champions, jumped out to an early 3-0 lead before the Hawks got on the board. Senior All-America candidate Chris Murphy (Winchester, Mass.) got the Hawks on the board to make it a 3-1 game with 6:38 left in the opening period.

After the Bears pushed the lead to 5-1, Matt Surette (Wakefield, Mass.) notched an unassisted scored with 2:07 left in the period for a 5-2 margin. NYIT made it an 8-2 game before the Hawks scored two straight to cut the lead down to 8-4. Steve Porter scored with 4:58 left in the second quarter, assisted by Murphy. Jeff Dunkle (Exeter, N.H.) then added a man-up score with 3:48 on the clock, assisted by Matt O'Connell (Charlestown, Mass.). The Bears took a 10-4 lead into the halftime break over the Hawks.

NYIT pushed the lead up to 17-4 early in the fourth before Surette scored his second goal of the game with 11:22 left in the game. The Hawks got a pair of goals from Dunkle in 19 seconds midway through the fourth to cut the lead down to 18-7, with the first goal being assisted by Murphy. Murphy added his second goal of the game with 2:32 left to make it a 19-8 game.

Dunkle led the Hawks with the hat trick, while Murphy had two goals and two assists. Surette also had a pair of goals.

In net, Saint Anselm sophomore Dan Flynn (Wakefield, Mass.) played the entire game and made 15 saves in the loss. Chris Powers played 52:58 in net for the Bears, making seven saves before being relieved late in the fourth quarter.

Saint Anselm is now 0-1 on the season, while NYIT sits at 2-0 overall. The Hawks are back in action on Saturday, March 7 as the team hosts Adelphi University at the Derryfield School in Manchester. Game time is set for 1 p.m.