LEXINGTON, VA.- The Lafayette men's lacrosse team traveled to Lexington this Saturday, taking on the Virginia Military Institute Keydets. The Leopards earned their first victory of the season, 14-6, coming off a hard-fought battle versus Penn State last weekend. The Maroon and White came out strong, winning the starting face-off to earn four shots on goal in the first two minutes. However, VMI was put on the board first with a shot by Bass, assisted by Jordan, at 12:15. The first goal for the Leopards came from sophomore attacker Peter Lehman, who was assisted by Charlie Cunniffe at 8:28 to even the score. A few scuffles and ground balls later, John Mathes put the Leopards in the lead with 2:36 left to go in the first quarter. The sophomore midfielder was assisted by Macklin Fitzpatrick. At 1:52, senior attacker George Enman was assisted by Nick Rossi. VMI's Ripley struck back at 14:34 in the second quarter when the Keydets were a man-up and had won their first face-off of the game. Junior midfielder Macklin Fitzpatrick sent one home by himself at 13:17 to make the score 4-2 LC. Macklin Fitzpatrick added another goal, assisted by Ryan Duncan, at 8:22 before VMI called a time-out. Mathes tallied his second of the game at 5:20, assisted by Kalman Kraham. The sophomore attacker then adds two of his own at 3:53, assisted by Lehman, and unassisted at 3:21. VMI moves up to three goals with a shot by Santos at 2:40. Kraham completes his first hat trick of the season with 50 seconds left to end the half. Face-offs, shots and ground balls all remain in Lafayette's favor. At the start of the third quarter, VMI's Santos gets past the Leopard defensive line at 11:49 while at a two-man-up strength. Lafayette doubles the success rate of face-offs, 10-5, over the next few minutes. Senior midfielder Cole Dutton scores at 8:32, assisted by Cade Kilbride. Just thirty seconds later, freshman Nick Rossi was assisted by Cunniffe, who also helps Lehman at 6:40. The Leopards stretch their lead at man-up strength to 12-4 after a VMI penalty for an illegal body check. Both teams create multiple turnovers and grab stray ground balls in the next few minutes. VMI ends the quarter's hot scoring streak at 3:38. The fourth quarter begins with the longest scoring drought of the game, while both teams battled for possession until 7:48 when Duncan breaks the ice, assisted by Mathes. Lafayette holds the advantage in face-offs and shots on goal at 14-6 and 26-12, respectively. Cunniffe puts one final shot past VMI goalkeeper Liselli at 6:12, assisted by Lehman. VMI takes the last goal of the game at 3:26, coming from Ripley, for a final score of Lafayette 14, VMI 6. Lafayette leaves Lexingon with the statistical advantage in every category except saves: shots (52-25), SOG (30-14), face-offs (17-6), ground balls (36-21) and clears (19-16). Face-offs were split between sophomore Aidan Kelly and junior James Turco, with Kelly winning four of six and Turco winning 13 of 17. VMI's Markie won only six of 23 face-offs. Freshman goalkeeper Gabe Cummins made eight saves for a .571 save percentage in the victory, while his VMI counterpart, Liselli, made 16. The Leopards return to College Hill to host Sacred Heart on Feb. 19 in Fisher Stadium for the "Every Child Matters" game. For the latest on the Lafayette College men's lacrosse program, follow the Leopards on Twitter @LafayetteMLAX and Instagram @lafayettemlax.