Worcester, Mass. – Junior Isaac Bass (Amherst, Mass.) finished with four goals and host Clark University held off a furious UMass-Dartmouth rally to post a season-opening 13-11 win over the Corsairs in non-league men's lacrosse action on a sunny but extremely cold and windy Granger Turf Field on Saturday afternoon.

The win for the Cougars is their fourth straight opening day victory and they improve to 6-3 on their newly renovated turf field which was installed prior to the start of the 2015 season.

In addition to Bass' career afternoon, the Scarlet and White got three goals from Rob Holden (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and two apiece from Nick Johnson (Amherst, Mass.) and Will Mandracchia (Melrose, Mass.).

Things started off in favor of UMass-Dartmouth as the Corsairs jumped out to a 4-1 lead after the first quarter as Andrew Johnson (Hopkinton, Mass.), Bo Prozinski (Ashland, Mass.), Steve Merrick (Methuen, Mass.) and Dean Miller (Ashland, Mass.) all found the back of the net in the first 15 minutes.

Bass had Clark's lone goal of the frame with help from Jack Goracy (Lumberton, N.J.) a little less than three minutes into the contest and his second came less than a minute into the second to make the score 4-2.

Bass' second quarter marker seemed to spark an offense that started off slow as the Cougars went on to record six goals in the period. Merrick's second goal of the game made gave the Corsairs a 5-2 advantage but Clark finally started clicking on the offensive end when Ryan Moore (West Hartford, Mass.) notched his first of the season with help from Mandracchia. Moments later, Mandracchia sent one past UMD netminder Matt LaFond (Bridgewater, Mass.) and that was followed by Jack Pierce (Westborough, Mass.) notching his first collegiate marker on an assist from Mandracchia, putting the Cougars in front, 6-5.

Johnson answered back for the visitors with his second of the afternoon to even the score but Alex Turgeon (Holden, Mass.) won the faceoff and fed Johnson to put Clark back in front, 7-6, heading into halftime.

The Cougars continued their offensive continuity with three straight goals to begin the third starting with Bass' man-up marker less than 30 seconds into the period. Holden then scored on consecutive offensive possessions with assists from Mandracchia and Johnson, pushing the Clark advantage to 10-6.

UMass-Dartmouth finished the period with back-to-back goals from Zach Drolette (Burlington, Vt.) and Prozinski in the final 2:59, getting the Corsairs to within two (10-8) heading into the final quarter.

As they did in the third period, Clark opened the fourth with a flourish, netting a pair of goals in the first seven minutes to bump their lead back to four at 12-8. First, Johnson made an incredible individual move, splitting a pair of defenders to find the back of the net for the second time and then Andrew Myhre (Middlebury, Vt.) set up Holden for his third marker of the afternoon with just under nine minutes to play.

Clark looked to be in control but the Corsairs battled back as Miller recorded a man-up score with 4:37 to play and then Prozinski registered a pair of amazing individual tallies less the 40 seconds apart to bring UMD to within one at 12-11.

An unsportsmanlike penalty on the Corsairs after Prozinski's second fourth quarter goal was scored gave the Cougars possession and a man-up opportunity, which they converted courtesy of a Mandracchia marker with help from Myhre with 2:03 to go, making the score 13-11.

Clark continued their possession after the Mandracchia goal and was able to run out the clock and secure the win.

The Cougars held a 52-34 edge in shots, including a 21-7 advantage during their six-goal second quarter.

UMass-Dartmouth won the faceoff battle, taking 15 of 26, while Joey Christopher (Chelmsford, Mass.) scooped up a game-high ten groundballs.

Prozinski matched Bass' four-goal total for the Corsairs, who also got two goals each from Johnson and Merrick.

In addition to their two goals each for Clark, Johnson (four assists) and Mandracchia (three assists) each were fantastic in finding open teammates.

Meanwhile, Drew Riopelle-Tyrrell (Northville, Mich.) turned aside 11 shots in goal for the Scarlet and White while the UMass-Dartmouth combination of Lafond and Scott Spangenberg (Dover, Mass.) totaled 11 saves as well.

Both teams are back in action next Saturday. The Corsairs play host to Norwich, while Clark visits Gordon College.