HARTFORD, Conn. -- C.J. Layton came up with 17 saves and head coach Guy Van Arsdale won his first game as head coach of the Colby College men's lacrosse team after an 8-5 NESCAC victory over Trinity College on Sunday. The Mules, who lost two straight one-goal games to start the season, refused to allow the Bantams to have a fourth quarter comeback. Trinity cut the lead to one goal on two occasions in the final 15 minutes, but Colby stayed poised and came up with big goals and big saves. "Very pleased for our guys today. They fought hard for that win," Van Arsdale said. "They demonstrated a poise in the fourth quarter that we were missing our first two games." Layton (pictured) had a monster game, coming up with difficult saves in every quarter. He also contributed five ground balls, two caused turnovers, and was a key force on clears for the Mules (1-2 overall, 1-1 NESCAC). Layton pushed his save percentage up to 63.3 percent and lowered his goals against average to 7.33. The Mules took a 5-2 lead heading into the final quarter, but Colby had struggled in the first two games in the fourth quarter. Trinity received unassisted goals from John Caraviello with 9:19 left and Max Delameter with 7:26 to play to cut the margin to one goal. Colby stayed strong and captain Austin Sayre used his strength to come up with a ground ball during a scrum about eight yards out from the goal to the right. Sayre won the battle and ripped a shot past Trinity goalie Woody Hamilton for a 6-4 lead. Trinity (1-2 overall, 0-2 NESCAC), though, refused to fold and scored with 3:45 to play on a goal by Jack Stillman to cut the lead to 6-5. After killing off a minor penalty, Colby went up by two goals on the second connection of the game between Tucker Dietrick and Kevin Seiler. Dietrick was on the run on the right side, kept his head up, and found Seiler open for a blast and a 7-5 lead. Colby was trying to kill time when Seiler scored his third goal of the game with 1:24 to play. The Mules were spreading the field, had good ball movement, and Seiler found wide open space to run on the right side and ripped a shot for the score. Layton and Colby's defense kept Trinity off the scoreboard in both the first and third quarters. Brad McCarthy had four ground balls and one caused turnover, Don Vivian anad Will Erwin both had three ground balls, and Sean Dougherty and Graham Lian each had two ground balls. Myles Smith started the day off right for Colby by ripping a shot off the post and in at the 1:04 mark of the first quarter. Cillian Connor scored on a man-up goal from Colton Michel to give the Mules a 2-0 lead after one quarter. Dietrick scored from about 15 yards out on a blast after taking a pass from first-year Lane Kadish. Dietrick leads the team in scoring after three games with four goals and three assists. The Mules kept the Bantams from scoring for more than 28 minutes, but Trinity tallied twice in 10 seconds to make it a 3-2 game at halftime. Jack Sharrio had a nice individual effort to get away from two defenders and score with 1:33 to halftime. The Bantams' Alex Notman picked up the ground ball off the face-off, sprinted toward the Colby goal, and ripped a long shot for the score. Sayre used an underhand whip shot after coming from behind the net to put the Mules up 4-2 with 6:32 to play in the third quarter. The Dietrick to Seiler duo made it 5-2 with 5:22 to left in the quarter. Dietrick used a terrific move to create space, again kept his head up, and found Seiler near the left post for the score. Layton had one of his best saves of the game during a Trinity man-up situation early in the four quarter after a slashing penalty. Layton saved the ball with his feet as he was going to the ground on a low shot. Dietrick had one goal and two assists to join Seiler for the team lead with three points on the day. Michael Logan played a key role for Colby by going 8-for-16 in face-off chances. The Bantams had a 39-36 advantage in shots, but the Mules forced Trinity to go 0-for-7 in man-up situations.