The Muhlenberg men's lacrosse team opened its season with an impressive effort at 17th-ranked Stevenson, coming back twice before falling, 10-8.

The Mules allowed five consecutive goals in the first period to fall into a 5-2 hole, but rebounded to net the next four and keep the Mustangs off the board for the entire second period. Last year, when Stevenson finished in the top 20 in Division III in scoring offense, it went the entire season with getting shut out in a quarter.

Sophomore Luc Belvill scored a pair of goals 30 seconds apart late in the second to send Muhlenberg into the locker room with a 6-5 advantage.

Stevenson notched the first three goals of the third quarter to jump back on top, 8-6. With time running down in the quarter, though, freshman Connor Sutton put in his first career goal to bring the Mules to within a goal.

Junior Ryan Neal zipped in a shot from the wing with 10:53 left in the fourth to tie the score, but the Mules were shut out for the rest of the game. The Mustangs went ahead with 9:14 remaining and scored what would prove to be an insurance goal less than two minutes later.

Stevenson enjoyed a 58-40 advantage in shots, but Muhlenberg stayed in the game throughout thanks to the stellar play of senior Jace Riley Day, who made 23 saves to match the most by a Mule since 2010 and the most in a regulation game since 2009. Day (pictured above) nearly doubled his previous career high of 12 saves.

Belvill, who scored four goals all of last season, recorded his first career hat trick. Junior Jack Bill netted a pair of goals, and junior Flynn Decker scored one in his Muhlenberg debut.