AMHERST, Mass. - The Bowdoin College men's lacrosse team suffered a season-opening defeat at the hands of Amherst on Sunday afternoon, 17-12.

In a battle of nationally ranked teams the ninth-ranked Purple & White improve to 1-0 while the tenth-ranked Polar Bears fall to 0-1.

Game Highlights

• Amherst came out firing and put the Polar Bears in a huge early hole with a nine-goal first-period outburst. Chris Albanese scored four times in the frame to give the hosts a 9-1 edge after 15 minutes
• Bowdoin scored four of the first five goals in the second period to cut the Amherst lead to 10-5, sparked by a pair of scores from Tim Bulens.
• But Amherst was able to keep the Polar Bears at bay, holding a 12-6 halftime lead and pushing their edge to 15-8 heading into the fourth quarter.
• Bowdoin could get no closer than five goals in the second half en route to the season-opening loss.

By the Numbers

• Albanese finished with five goals to lead Amherst while Cody Tranbarger made 13 saves.
• Brett Kujala led Bowdoin with three goals and an assist while Matthew Crowell had two goals and two helpers. Shaw Daly scored three times for Bowdoin as well.
• Peter Mumford made 20 saves in the loss for Bowdoin.
• Amherst owned a 59-43 edge in shots thanks in part to a 24-10 advantage in face-offs.

Up Next

• Bowdoin will return to action next Saturday at Williams for a 1:00 p.m. start.