Lakewood, N.J.- After over a year of preparation, a dream finally became reality for Mickey Hover as the head coach led his Lions into action Saturday afternoon, marking the long-awaited debut of the Georgian Court University men's lacrosse program.

At home in front of a high-energy crowd of 425, GCU fell, 9-4, to visiting Dominican College in the first game of the 2016 regular season for both squads. 

The Chargers (1-0) jumped out to an initial 2-0 advantage before Joseph Ramirez became the answer to a trivia question by scoring the first goal in GCU history (assisted by Ryder Verdoni) with 4:45 remaining in the first period.

Coming out of intermission with a 3-1 lead, Dominican's Aaron Yulfo (Fr.-Shirley, N.Y.) scored the first tally of the second half at 12:57 in the third period. Jake Sherman would reduce the Lions' deficit back to two after sending in a Connor Houghton feed at the 8:30 mark.

Dominican would then proceed to put the contest out of reach by netting four unanswered goals, culminating with a David Arent (Fr.-Huntington Beach, Calif.) score at the 11:48 mark of the fourth, which provided the visitors an 8-2 surplus.

Houghton (11:13) and Verdoni (2:26) would account for the remaining Georgian Court goals in the fourth, providing both players with a goal and assist in their respective debuts.

Carlos Villaman (Jr.-Montgomery, N.Y.) earned the victory between the Dominican pipes, collecting 11 saves in the opening day triumph. Logan Eisenhart enjoyed a solid performance in the GCU net, compiling 16 saves in 58:52 of action.

The Lions take to the road for the first time Tuesday afternoon with a 3 p.m. contest at Mercy College.