NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Adrian College men's lacrosse team opened its 2025 season on Saturday in Virginia as they took on the No. 6 team in the nation, the Christopher Newport University Captains.

The Bulldogs held the contest close for the first half of it, before the Captains exemplified why they're one of the top teams in the country, pulling away with twelve goals combined over the third and fourth quarters to collect a 22-9 win over the Bulldogs.

After a tough first period, the Bulldogs had to fight back from a 7-2 deficit before they headed to the locker room for halftime. In period two, Adrian clawed back with an impressive effort to close the gap, making the score 10-6 going into the latter half of the contest.

Riley Edwards and Michael Jonas opened the scoring in the first frame for Adrian, before adding one more each in period two, along with Alec Winegar who also buried twice, as the Bulldogs outdid the Captains by a 4-3 margin in the second stanza.

Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the Captains turned it on in the final two quarters of play, tacking on four more in quarter 3 and exploding for eight more in quarter 4 to Adrian's two goals in the third and one in the fourth, courtesy of Jonas, Trace Tidswell, and Cameron Reed.

As usual over his Bulldog career, Jonas led the way offensively, tallying a hat-trick and adding four assists in the season opening game. Tidswell finished atop the shot category with 5 total attempts, 4 of them on goal. Sam Spangler made 28 saves in the loss, officially surpassing the Adrian College men's lacrosse program record for all-time career saves with 508!

The Adrian College men's lacrosse team will take on Ohio Northern on Wednesday, February 19 at 4:00 PM in Ohio.