ADRIAN, Mich. -- The Adrian College men's lacrosse team opened MIAA conference play on Thursday evening at Docking Stadium by defeating the Calvin Knights in an emotional and entertaining contest, 20-12.

The Bulldogs and Knights clawed back and forth throughout the entire game, involving themselves in some rough stuff, penalty chaos, and tantalizing offensive production. After losing to the Knights last season, the Bulldogs were fueled with retribution and earned that revenge victory to kick-off the conference agenda with a bang.

Included in all of Thursday's madness was Michael Jonas' continued excellence as he became the Adrian College men's lacrosse program's all-time leader in career assists in the win. Jonas finished Thursday's contest with a second-straight 8-goal performance, along with 4 assists for 12 points. Those 12 points also mark the program record for most in a single game, passing the previous record of 11, held by himself and Peyton Gasche '22.

As Jonas continues to shatter program records, he now sits with 52 goals and 30 assists for 82 points in only 12 games this season, which also ties another program record for most points in a single season. He'll have at least 5 more games this season to establish himself as the leader in that category as well.

To begin Thursday's match-up, it was the Knights who got off to the hotter start, as they held the Bulldogs in their own zone for most of the opening minutes of quarter one. The Knights got out to a 5-2 lead before the Bulldogs started to climb back into the race.

From that point on, the Bulldogs erased the deficit and never looked back as they led for the remainder of the game after tying it at 7 early in the second quarter. Both teams continued to press as things got heated, but the Adrian offense never stopped as the home team ran away with things and sealed a 20-12 win.

Aside from Jonas, highlighting the offense for the Bulldogs was Trace Tidswell (4G, 1A), Derek Hassel (2G, 3A), Alec Winegar (3G, 2A), and Austin Selvage (1G, 4A). Other goal-scorers in the game included Cameron Reed and Tyler Ristau, who each tallied once. Sam Spangler stood in goal for the Bulldogs and made 10 saves for his 6th win of the season.

Leading on the ground for the Bulldogs was Nico Palazzolo who grabbed 14 ground balls and won 18 of his face-offs. Reed led the way in caused turnovers with 4.

The Adrian College men's lacrosse team will look to piggy-back off this impressive performance as they prepare for Hope College next week on Wednesday, April 9. The Bulldogs will face-off against the Flying Dutchmen in Holland at 7:00 PM.

Cameron Reed stayed after to chat about tonight's win, the rivalry between Adrian and Calvin, and the preparation methods for Hope next week.