CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Skidmore College men's lacrosse team opened the season with a 14-9 road loss at nationally 16^th-ranked Cortland, 14-9.
 
Cortland ended the third quarter and started the fourth on a 6-0 run after Skidmore scored two quick goals to knot it up at eight.
 
Jon Bouvier had three goals and an assist to lead the Thoroughbreds with four points in his collegiate debut. Matt Pinckney scored twice, while Ben Gastonguay, Charlie McFadden, Alex Carpenter, and Brian Gonsalves all had one goal.
 
Colton Smith and Troy Morris both scored three times for the Red Dragons. Smith also had three assists to lead all players with six points. Dante Yacavone, Brandon Stiles, and Jason Chiodo posted two goals apiece. Yacavone also had a pair of helpers.
 
The hosts went ahead early on their first possession after winning the faceoff and later made it 2-0 at the 3:41 mark of the first quarter. Gastonguay scored with 53 seconds remaining to close the low-scoring first stanza. Cortland answered a 3-0 Skidmore run with a 4-0 spurt of its own to lead by two early in the second half. Skidmore got three of the next four goals to make it 8-8 in the middle of the third quarter.
 
The Thoroughbreds scored three times on man-up opportunities. Skidmore won the faceoff battle, 16-10. Shots finished 47-39 for Cortland.
 
Collin Kuester turned aside 21 shots in his first-career start. Travis Wagner made 14 saves for Cortland.

The Thoroughbreds will play four of its next five games at home, starting Wednesday, March 2 at 4 p.m. versus Oneonta.