WESTMINISTER, MD. - The New England College men's lacrosse team opened its 2026 season on the road in Maryland Sunday afternoon, falling to non-conference opponent McDaniel College 11-5. 

Junior Brody McGonigle (Concord, N.H.) opened the scoring for the Pilgrims just two minutes into the contest. McDaniel answered shortly after to even the score at 1-1, then surged ahead with two late goals to take a 3-1 advantage at the end of the first quarter. 

The Green Terror maintained their offensive pressure in the second, but junior goalkeeper Nate Finn (Norwood, Mass.) came up with key back-to-back saves for the 'Grims. Freshman Owen Taylor (Lanesborough, Mass.) connected with junior Andrew Pepka (Pembroke, N.H.) for his first goal of the season to trim the lead to one. A minute later, Taylor buried his first goal of the season off a feed from McGonigle to knot the game at 3-3. McDaniel responded at the ten-minute mark to regain the lead and added another late score to extend its advantage to 5-3 heading into halftime. 

McDaniel struck quickly to open the second half, scoring less than a minute into the third quarter and extending its lead to 7-3. The Green Terror continued to apply pressure, adding another goal, despite several strong saves from Finn. Graduate Evan Zonderman (Dracut, Mass.) and Pepka generated quality chances before McGonigle broke through for his second goal of the game to cut into the lead. McDaniel maintained control and carried an 8-4 advantage into the final quarter. 

NEC continued to battle in the fourth quarter, as Pepka netted his second goal of the game to cut into McDaniel's lead. The Green Terror answered with back-to-back scores a minute apart and later capitalized on a man-up opportunity to seal the 11-5 victory.  

McGonigle led the offense with two goals and one assist while adding five ground balls. Pepka tallied two goals, and freshman Hunter Knice (Red Bank, N.J.) collected five ground balls. Zonderman went 13-20 in faceoffs while Finn finished the afternoon with 25 saves in net. 

The Pilgrims return north to host non-conference foe the University of Southern Maine on Thursday, March 5th at 3:00 PM on Don Melander Field. 

For continuing coverage of New England College Athletics, visit athletics.nec.edu and follow the Pilgrims on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.