When Wallkill’s boys’ lacrosse team opened the season Wednesday, March 20, there was not the chill that usually accompanies this game.

It was warmer than normal, with occasional winds, and Wallkill found itself down 2-0 with 3:30 left in the first quarter before Chad Castle, who scored three goals, started a run through the remainder of the quarter in which the Panthers led 4-2 at the end of the period.

Castle scored a goal with three seconds left in the first quarter before scoring another in the second half as the Panthers won their opener 12-7.

“We didn’t have any scrimmages, so (this) was our first time against other competition this season. I expected us to be a little sloppy early, and we were,” said Alex Danon, Wallkill’s coach. “Once we got into the game we settled down a bit and our returners got us going.”

Alex Lewis led Wallkill with 5 goals, all scored in the second half, and Alec MacDonald added a pair. Evan Hathaway and Austin Palen each scored a goal for Wallkill. And Dylan Jowell made 10 saves.

“We definitely have some things to clean up. We left quite a few goals on the field with some passes just off the mark, or shooting without getting our head around and locating the target,” said Danon. “Things we will continue to work on and should get better at as the season goes on.”