The University of Mary Washington men's lacrosse team fell behind early but stormed back to edge Virginia Wesleyan College, 8-7, on Saturday in both teams' season opener at the Battleground. Seniors Mark Bowler (Cary, N.C., Cary) and Kohl Meyer (Shawnee, N.J., Shawnee) each scored twice to lead the Eagles.

UMW fell behind, 2-1, after one quarter, and trailed 3-1, before scoring five straight goals. Bowler scored UMW's first goal, and freshman Chip Pittard (Setauket, NY, Ward Melville) started the comeback. After Bowler's second score tied the game at three, Meyer scored twice and freshman middie Josh Furnary (Vienna, Va., Gonzaga) added another to give UMW a 6-3 advantage in the third quarter.

After the Marlins scored twice to cut the deficit to 6-5, sophomore Sean Dacey (Round Hill, Va., Loudoun Valley) scored his first goal of the year with 6:56 left in the game to return the lead to two. After another Marlin goal, junior Harry Snyder (Charlottesville, Va., St. Anne's-Belfield) scored what would be the game winner with 2:51 to play. The Marlins scored in the final minutes to cut the final to 8-7.

UMW outshot the Marlins, 33-30, and had 41 ground balls to 25 for the guests. Senior goalie Ryan Kleman (Fairfax, VA, Robinson) earned the win with 15 saves, while Tyler Keech had 10 stops for VWC.

The Eagles will return to action next Saturday when they host Hampden-Sydney College at 1:00 p.m.