The Muhlenberg men's lacrosse team opened up Centennial Conference play with a 13-8 win at Washington College.

The win was the fifth straight for the Mules (5-2, 1-0) and their first ever in Chestertown. They lost their first eight games at Washington by an average of more than eight goals, never scoring more than 10 or allowing fewer than nine.

Muhlenberg flipped the script behind hat tricks from the last two CC rookies of the year, junior James Dalimonte and sophomore Wyatt Malia, as well as a four-point effort from graduate student Ethan Grossman. Senior Matt Marrella, a 2021 All-CC selection, scored a pair of goals in his season debut.

Sophomore Jack Quinn netted two goals in the first quarter to help stake the Mules to a 5-2 lead. The bulk of the second quarter was scoreless, except for a goal by Dalimonte (pictured above) 26 seconds in and one by Marrella with four seconds remaining. The defense pitched a shutout for the quarter, holding the Shoremen (1-5, 0-1) to three shots and sending Muhlenberg into the locker room with a 7-2 advantage.

Washington netted the first three goals of the second half to close to within two. It was 8-6 midway through the third quarter before the Mules scored three straight, two by Malia and one by Marrella, to put the game out of reach.

Dalimonte's hat trick was the 11th of his career, and his four points game him a career total of 90. Malia notched his fifth hat trick of the season, and his fourth in the last five games.

Grossman finished with a goal and three assists, moving into the top 10 on the all-time CC list with 106 career assists. Junior Jack Kraemer recorded the Mules' final tally to extend his streak of games with a goal scored to 20.

Senior longstick midfielder Maxwell Seeber and junior defensive middie Andrew Sokolowski each caused a pair of turnovers. Sophomore Matthew Regan picked up four ground balls for a defense that limited Washington to 24 shots.