SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Junior Ben Gastonguay scored four goals to lead the Skidmore College men's lacrosse team to an 8-6 home-opening win over Oneonta on Wednesday afternoon.
 
Gastonguay's four goals were all in the first 16:44 of the game. He accounted for the first three tallies of the contest in the first half of the first quarter. Skidmore led 4-0 and then 5-1 by the early stages of the second frame.
 
Charlie McFadden had one goal and three assists for Skidmore (1-1). Jon Bouvier had a goal and two assists, while Charlie Kessler and Matt Pinckney both finished with a goal and an assist.
 
Dean Cannon had two goals and an assist and Luke Maslin scored twice for Oneonta (1-2). Sam Haita posted a goal and two assists, while Kieran Rowley tallied one goal and one helper.
 
Oneonta stopped the bleeding with a goal with 2:04 left in the first quarter to make it 4-1. Then, after Gastonguay scored his fourth, Oneonta scored twice in less than a minute to pull to within two.
 
McFadden and Bouvier accounted for the only scoring of the third quarter to bump Skidmore's lead back up to four, 7-3. Oneonta answered with three goals in just under two minutes in the early stages of the fourth quarter to make it 7-6.
 
On an extended man-up opportunity, Pinckney scored for the Thoroughbreds with 1:26 remaining before Luke Curtin won the ensuing faceoff on a violation to seal it.
 
Collin Kuester had 10 saves for the Thoroughbreds. Luke Mignoli turned away 17 shots for the visitors.
 
Ground balls finished 38-22 for Skidmore. Paul Heffernan led all position players with five ground ball pickups. Skidmore also won 10-of-16 faceoffs. Curtin went 9-4 to lead the way.
 
Skidmore will return home on Saturday, March 5 to host Haverford at 2 p.m.