HUNTSVILLE | The University of Alabama in Huntsville men's lacrosse team opened the 2018 campaign on Saturday, fighting tough in an 18-10 setback to No. 20 Saint Leo at Charger Park. UAH starts the season at 0-1, while SLU begins the year at 1-0.
 
Turning Point
-After UAH had scored three straight to pull within five at 12-7 with 13:19 left in the third quarter, the visiting Lions scored the next five to take a 17-7 lead into the fourth quarter en route to the victory.
 
Inside the Box Score
-Nicholas Ranta scored three times in his UAH debut to lead the Chargers on the day offensively, while Luke LeVette and Collin Wilcox both added a pair of scores in the contest.
-UAH's other goals came from Kevin Coppinger, Emory Weaver, and Adam Zois.
-Zois recorded an assist to tally two points on the afternoon, while both Nik Kubik and Jacob Glen also both had an assist. -Charlie Kurtenbach scored four times to lead Saint Leo and all players in the contest.
-Kyle Siersma stopped 16 saves in being charged with the loss in goal for the Chargers.
-On the afternoon, Colton Nall recorded six groundballs, while Nik Kubik won 11 faceoffs.
-Saint Leo established a 46-34 advantage in shots including a 34-19 edge in attempts that were on target.
-UAH went 13-for-14 in clearing attempts, while Saint Leo was 15-for-18, and the Lions built up a 36-32 advantage in groundballs.
 
Inside the Flow
-Saint Leo scored the first five goals in the game before Zois scored an unassisted tally on a man-up opportunity with 6:31 left in the opening quarter, and SLU would eventually go up 7-1 before Coppinger's marker at the 12:18 mark of the second made it a 7-2 game.
-The guests scored the next two goals before Ranta scored back-to-back to pull UAH within five at 9-4, and after three more tallies from the Lions, Weaver scored the final goal of the quarter to make it 12-6 going into the half.
-UAH then quickly struck with a pair of man-up goals from Wilcox and LeVette to make it 12-7, and after SLU's five straight goals, the Chargers scored three of the last four in the game with Ranta, Wilcox, and LeVette all tallying in the fourth quarter.
 
Noteworthy
-This marks the second consecutive season that the Chargers have had a player score three goals in the season opener.
-UAH drastically improves over its performance against Saint Leo from a year ago when the Chargers were limited to just three goals while allowing 21 in a setback on March 14.
-LeVette has now scored 33 goals as a Charger while reaching the 50-point plateau for his career.
 
Next Time Out
-The Chargers will be back in action on Feb. 11 when the team welcomes Newberry to the Rocket City. The game is slated for a 12 p.m. start at Charger Park.