NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The Westminster College men's lacrosse team won, 17-7, against non-conference foe Houghton College in its season opener at home Saturday afternoon.
 
Titan sophomore Ryan Shorts (Westlake Village, CA / Oak Park) registered a school-record nine points, including a school-record seven goals.
 
Freshman Dante Serra (Center Valley, PA / Southern Lehigh) scored four goals. Freshman Ryan Stiemly (Edgewood, MD/Edgewood / Edgewood) and Adrian Culp (Gaithersbugh, MD / Quince Orchard) added three and two goals, respectively.
 
Sophomore Carter Hall (Zeeland, MI / Zeeland West) had seven saves in 57:08 minutes of play. Freshman Chris Ryczaj (Pittsburgh, PA / Central Catholic) earned a team-high seven ground balls, while freshman Chris Slater (Pittsburgh, PA / Central Catholic) had five.
 
The Titans outshot the Highlanders 51-34, including 28-15 on goal, and outscored them, 10-4, in the second half.
 
Houghton (0-1) scored first with a goal by Cole Chapman with 13:58 on the clock in the first quarter. Westminster (1-0) responded nine seconds later with a goal by Serra; Ryczaj earned the assist. Shors put the Titans in front, 2-1, with goal at the 11:48 mark; Culp had the assist. Houghton's Paul Chapman tied the game at 2 with a score with 4:46 remaining. Serra scored his second goal to put Westminster ahead 3-2 with 2:28 left and the Titans led by the same at the end of one. After the Highlanders tied the game at 3 in the beginning of the second quarter, the Titans netted four-straight unanswered goals and led 7-3 at halftime; Shorts (7:40), Culp (6:38), sophomore Matt Trella (Moon Twp, PA / Moon Area) (5:36), and Stiemly (4:18) scored the goals.
 
Serra led off the third quarter with his third goal of the game and the Titans led 8-3 with 11:03 on the clock. After a Houghton goal at the 8:51 mark in the third, Westminster tallied seven-straight goals and led 15-4 with 9:20 remaining in the game. Shorts scored four goals in that span, while Culp, Serra, and Stiemly each scored one. Houghton stopped the run with a goal at the 7:57 mark (15-5), followed by Titan goals courtesy of Stiemly and Shorts. The Highlanders finished the scoring with two late goals.
 
Westminster will next compete at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland, on Saturday, March 4 with a 3 p.m. start time.