WINCHESTER, Va. — The Averett University men's lacrosse program opened its inaugural season Wednesday afternoon with a 23-1 non-conference loss at Shenandoah University.

Freshman Keshawn Downing made history for Averett (0-1), scoring the first goal in program's existence. Downing rolled right and fired a shot in from about 10 yards out past the keeper at the 11:16 mark of the fourth quarter.

Shenandoah (1-0) took a 4-0 lead after the first quarter, and the Hornets extended their lead to 10-0 by halftime before pulling away in the second half.

Despite the loss, first-year head coach Anthony Mackin was extremely proud of his team.

"They showed great effort and desire, and they left it all on the field," Mackin said. "A loss always hurts, but we learned a lot about ourselves and we have some really good things to build upon moving forward."

Freshman Jacob Shriver totaled 23 saves in goal for the Cougars.

Averett travels to play non-conference foe Bridgewater College on Saturday. The start time has been bumped up to noon due to inclement weather in the forecast.