ANNAPOLIS, Md. —  Senior midfielders Greyson Torain (Glen Burnie, Md.) and Ryan Wade (Coronado, Calif.) combined for 12 points and third-year starting goalkeeper Ryan Kern (Middletown, Del.) made 13 saves to lead the Navy men's lacrosse team (1-) to a 13-8 victory over Vermont (1-1) in the Mids' 2019 opener Saturday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Navy used a 3-0 run to close out the first half and take the lead for good, as the Mids improved to 94-17-1 all-time in season openers, including 6-2 under eighth-year head coach Rick Sowell.

"It was a good team win," said Sowell, whose team opened the season at home for the first time since 2016. "I thought Vermont was a little bit more comfortable with a game under its belt, but once we settled down and were able to get in our comfort zone, we did some good things on both ends of the field."

The Mids fielded a team that had new faces on both offense and defense, but it was the veterans who provided the backbone in Saturday's opener. Torain paved the way with 6 points on a career-best 5 goals and an assist en route to becoming just the 34th player overall and the ninth midfielder in the program's 112-year history to reach 100 points. With 64 goals and 37 assists, he is tied for 29th on the all-time scoring list with 101 points.

"What an awesome accomplishment, particulary as a middie," said Sowell regarding Torain's milestone. "Greyson is a tremendous finisher, but he is also willing to feed the open player. I am happy for him."

Meanwhile, Wade had an equally-impressive day with 6 points on a goal and a career-high tying 5 assists. Wade, who came into the game with the nation's 11th-longest point-scoring streak, extended it to 25 consecutive games, posting 64 points on 18 goals and 46 assists during that run. Additionally, he jumped from 19th to a tie for 16th on the Mids' all-time assists list alongside Syd Abernethy (1978-81) with 54.

"I think Greyson and some of the other guys could speak to this, but Ryan has to be a great guy to play with because he is always looking to feed," said Sowell. "He's an unselfish player who is looking to dodge and feed. But I will say he has the ability to score on his own, too."

Sophomore attackman Christian Daniel (Owings, Md.) finished the day with 2 goals and 2 assists and has yet to be held without a point since his arrival a year ago. He was flanked by converted senior midfielder Patrick Walsh (Langhorne, Pa.) and freshman Nick Cole (Ashburn, Va.) in the lineup, who both finished the game with a pair of goals. Meanwhile, Torain and Wade welcomed sophomore Michael Foster (Manassas, Va.) to the first midfield line where he, too, got in on the action with his first collegiate goal during the Mids' run to close out the opening half.

Navy's defense was stout for three quarters of the game, holding the Catamounts, who scored 21 against Utah a week ago in their opener, to four goals over the first 50 minutes of the contest. Anchoring the defense was Kern, who made 13 stops in the cage, including 10 over the first three quarters of play.

Kern was just one of three returning starters on defense, as Nick Franchuk (So / Southport, Conn.) and Jacob Mandish (So / Davidsonville, Md.) were introduced into the starting lineup on close defense, joining 2018 starter Andrew McKenna (So / Stony Brook, N.Y.), while Tim Griffin (So / Rockville, Md.) and Brad Alexander (Jr / Carmel, N.Y.) moved into the short-stick defensive midfielder role to complement returning long-stick midfielder Jeff Durden (So / Cumming, Ga.).

The defense held the Catamounts to single-digit shots in each of the four quarters (30 total) and forced 5 of Vermont's 18 turnovers.

"Our defense started coming together last week in practice," said Sowell. "Things started to click amongst our young sophomores and then having our veteran goalkeeper in Ryan Kern back in goal this week played a big part.

"Spencer Rees played great in the scrimmages and in practice, so I was confident in him if I could not go," said All-Patriot League goalkeeper Ryan Kern. "But I've been missing it, missing being out there with my teammates. It felt great to get back out there on Tuesday.

"To be able to get that first save is always a confidence boost for any goalie and it certainly helped me today. I thought the defense really played well today. We've talked about trust and with good communication we were able to adjust a number of times. I credit the defense in front of me for allowing me to see the ball and make saves."

Daniel scored the season's first goal and gave Navy a 1-0 lead five minutes into the game, when he corraled a high pass from Wade and fired in the goal from 5 yards out. Vermont leveled the game when third-year middie Rob Hudson sank a lefty shot from five yards out.

The Mids took a 3-1 lead just two minutes into the second quarter with goals by Wade and Torain before the Catamounts answered with back-to-back goals by senior middie Jack Knight and rookie middie Sal Iaria.

Just 36 seconds after Iaria's game-tying goal, Torain scored bookend goals in a 4-0 run that spilled into the second half and gave Navy the lead for good.

Sophomore attackman Liam Limoges led Vermont with 4 points on 2 goals and 2 assists, while senior attackman Dawes Milchling pitched in a goal and an assist.

The Midshipmen return to action next Friday when they play host to UMBC in what will be the Retrievers' opener. Action is slated for a 7:00 pm faceoff at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. A free live video stream will be available on PatriotLeague.TV, while Joe Miller will have the call on 1430 AM / 99.9 FM WNAV.

### Go Navy ###