STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The Wagner College men's lacrosse team suffered a 14-10 loss in the Seahawks' 2026 season opener to MAAC member Sacred Heart on Wednesday afternoon on Hameline Field.
The Seahawks (0-1, 0-0 NEC) scored the first two goals of the game thanks to graduate student Theo Kostakos and junior Danny McMahon. The duo granted Wagner a 2-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.
The Pioneers (2-0, 0-0 MAAC) rattled off the next four scores before senior Jake Mitchell found the back of the net twice less than three minutes apart to tie the game at four at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Pioneers outscored the Seahawks 5-2 to take a 9-6 lead at the break.
Junior Danny McMahon netted his second of the afternoon while Mitchell completed a first-half hat-trick in the opening half of the year.
A low-scoring third quarter saw Wagner outscore Sacred Heart 2-1 in the frame. Freshman Dylan Popehn scored his first collegiate goal less than one minute into the third quarter. Sacred Heart responded with its own goal less than a minute later. Mitchell finished off his impressive day with his fourth goal of the game with four minutes left in the period.
After three quarters of play, the score read 10-8 in favor of Sacred Heart.
In the fourth quarter, the Seahawks brought it to within one goal after back-to-back goal from Popehn and junior Ryan Rossi made it a 11-10 game with 7:47 remaining.
However, the Pioneers finished the contest on a 3-0 run over the final five minutes of the game, 14-10 to prevail.
Individually, Mitchell led the roster with four goals. Popehn and McMahon added two goals while Rossi and Kostakos added one each.
Defensively, senior Drew Pemrick collected three ground balls and caused three turnovers. Sophomore Cole Yoshioka also caused three turnovers and collected two ground balls. Junior Angus Snow recorded nine saves in net.
As a team, Sacred Heart earned 20 face-off wins while Wagner earned eight. The Pioneers took 23 shots on target compared to the Seahawks 19.
Next up, Wagner travels to Gaelic Park for an 11 a.m. matchup with MAAC member Manhattan on Saturday, Feb 14.
