KINGSTON, N.Y. - The Bard College men's lacrosse team shook off a slow start and cruised to a 12-4 victory over Anna Maria College in its 2017 debut on Saturday afternoon.

Consecutive goals two minutes apart by freshman Brandon Pavoni (Granby, MA) gave the visitors a 2-0 lead deep into the first quarter, but the game changed for good the next time Bard got into the offensive zone.

A shot by George Goceljak was saved by Anna Maria goalie Paul Schwarz (Staten Island, NY) - he already had seven saves by that point in the game - but John Palermo forced an errant pass on the ensuing clear attempt, and Emmet O'Connell collected the freebie right in front and cut the lead to 2-1. Then, with 19 seconds left in the first quarter, freshman Corey Rich scored his first collegiate goal in a man-up situation and it was tied, 2-2, after one quarter.

When Rich scored his second goal of the game just under three minutes into the second quarter, Bard took the lead and never gave it back. It ended up being a seven-goal run that bridged the first, second and third quarters. So it was 5-2 at halftime, and 7-2 about five minutes into the third quarter.

On the defensive end, Bard bottled up Anna Maria freshman Kurt Richardson (Narragansett, RI), who scored six goals in his first college game earlier in the week. He ended up with one man-up goal on two shots.

Back-to-back man-up goals in the third quarter cut Bard's lead to 7-4, but there was never the feeling that Bard's dominance was being threatened. The Raptors closed out the game with five straight goals, holding the AMCATS scoreless in both the second and fourth quarters.

A pair of freshmen handled the faceoff duties, Michael O'Donnell winning 7-of-11 and Weston Bishop earning 3-of-6. Bard caused 20 of the AMCATS 33 turnovers, and outshot the visitors 67-13. The Raptors won the ground ball battle 40-16 and went 12-for-14 on clear attempts.

Schwarz made 32 saves for Anna Maria, 1-1.

Rich finished with four goals and an assist; O'Connell had three goals; and freshman Anthony Stanley had three goals and two assists. Palermo scored Bard's two other goals, while Goceljak contributed two assists. William Baffuto led Bard with four caused turnovers, Dalton Davis had five ground balls, and John Henry Glascock made five saves.

Up next for Bard is another non-league game at Dietz Stadium. The Raptors will host Purchase College on Wednesday night at 7. You can follow that game via Live Stats right here.