Led by a strong defensive effort, the men’s lacrosse team secured their first win of the season by defeating the Delaware Blue Hens 6-4 amiss the cold weather on Feb. 8 at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Goalie Sam Grinberg ’15 made a stand-out appearance in the opening game, making 12 crucial saves to shut down the Blue Hen offense for a majority of the match.

The Blue Hens and the Orange and Blue have met for season-openers for the last three years. Now the Bison take the series 2-1 after a narrow victory in the 2013 campaign. The Orange and Blue held off a tough offense by allowing only three goals until the final seconds of the match. However, the Bison jump-started what will be a tough schedule with an uplifting victory due to the combined efforts of a variety of players.

Ranked 15th in preseason polls, the Orange and Blue return many key players that head coach Frank Fedorjaka is looking to for results. His predictions for future success were foreshadowed in the match with six different impact players registering goals for the team. Kyle Shanahan ’16 landed his first two points of the season and first goal of his career.

“I knew I was bound to find the back of the net if I kept going hard. I was able to create separation from a defender which allowed me to get off a shot,” Shanahan said.

Ryan Joseph ’15, Todd Heritage ’14, Thomas Flibotte ’16, Peter Burke ’14, and Sean Doyle ’16 contributed the five other goals to the Bison scoreboard, but a determined defense is what secured the victory. With a mix of veteran and incoming talent in the three close defensemen and a goalie who played mostly backup to Kyle Feeney ’13 last year, the newly meshed group worked together to keep the Blue Hens out of the net.

“We had a good scout and made some adjustments during the game that allowed us to be aggressive on defense and shut down the Delaware offense,” Grinberg said.

The Orange and Blue will head to Rhode Island tomorrow to take on a physically tough Bryant in a match-up that will test the defense’s durability, the midfield’s transitions, and the attack’s ability to avoid pressure and find the open man.