KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After a dominating first quarter, the No. 8 UIndy men's lacrosse team (1-0) needed a late goal from Kansai Garey to escape with a 15-14 season-opening victory over Westminster (0-2) on the campus of Rockhurst University.
 
Twelve Greyhounds recorded a point on Sunday, while 10 different players scored. Brian Robb logged five points in the win, including three goals.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The final 15 minutes proved exhilarating, as UIndy scored four of the final six goals to squeak by with the one-tally win. The Greyhounds controlled the final four minutes, knotting the game at 14 apiece when Mike Doyle found Jake Zickel for the tying score.
 
Seventy-one seconds later, Robb – known for his own late-game heroics a season ago – snuck a pass to Garey to record the game-winner. On Westminster's final possession, it was none other than Soucy who caused the turnover to seal the victory.
 
UIndy jumped out a 5-0 lead with Parker Johnson tallying the first goal of the season. Newcomer Connor Eskridge netted a pair during that stretch before the Griffins scored 11 of the next 16 to lead late in the fourth quarter.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-Robbie Berardi finished 24 of 30 from the faceoff dot, scooping up a program-record 18 ground balls in the process
-Evan Soucy contributed three caused turnovers and two ground balls in his UIndy debut
-Eskridge began his senior campaign with three points
-Connor O'Brien was one of three transfers (Eskridge, Garey) to score a goal in the win
-Jordan McKenzie grabbed four ground balls, the most among non-FOGOs
 
MORE NOTES
Three from Westminster each recorded three points … UIndy's Austin Barnett made 13 stops in the win … Sunday marked the first-ever meeting between the Greyhounds and Griffins.
 
HOUND BYTES
"We started off great," head coach Greg Stocks said. "But we made some mistakes that came back to hurt us. We played just well enough near the end to pull out the win and start the season off right."
 
UP NEXT
The eighth-ranked Hounds will welcome in Lake Erie on Saturday, Feb. 15 for a 1 p.m. faceoff at Key Stadium. UIndy leads the all-time series, 3-1, including a 15-11 win last season in Painesville, Ohio.