HAMPTON, Va. --- The 2018 Hampton men's lacrosse season started on Saturday as the Pirates dropped a 16-9 decision to Lincoln Memorial University at Armstrong Stadium.
 
The teams traded goals throughout the first period as Pierce Johnson tallied his first of the day off a feed from Kier Johnson to take a 3-2 lead with 13:57 left in the first half.  Lincoln Memorial responded with the next four goals, three of which by Kyle Acuri to take a 6-3 lead with 2:31 remaining in the opening half.
 
Hampton trimmed the deficit to 6-4 on an unassisted goal from Derian Williams-Sturdivant at the one minute mark.  
 
Lincoln Memorial opened the second half scoring nine of the next ten goals to push the lead to 15-5.  Hampton scored four of the last five goals as Preston Randolph, two from Pierce Johnson and one from Jonathan Napier closed the scoring for Hampton.
 
After outshooting Lincoln Memorial 12-5 in the opening period, the Railsplitters finished with a 56-35 advantage in shots.  Hampton goalies Kevin Mondy Jr. and Paxtin Powell combined for 19 saves.
 
Hampton is now off until Feb. 23 when they face the University of District of Columbia in a 1pm faceoff at Armstrong Stadium.
 
For more information on Hampton University men's lacrosse, please contact the Office of Sports Information at 757-727-5757 or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.