The Newburgh Free Academy boys’ lacrosse team played even with the Highland Huskies for nearly 10 minutes.

Then, the defense broke, and the Huskies got through, scoring four goals in the final 2:37 of the first period as they handed the Goldbacks a 14-2 non-league loss on Friday night at Marlboro High School.

It may have been a lot worse if not for Newburgh goalkeeper Anthony Vasquez, who spent most of the night fending off Highland shots on his way to a 17-save performance to open the season.

However, when Frank Guidi’s shot got by him with 2:37 left to go in the first quarter, the floodgates opened, and the Huskies scored four straight goals to take a 4-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Huskies got a couple of goals – from Osei Adoma and Dean Klotz – to take a 6-0 lead before three minutes were gone in the second quarter, and the Newburgh defense held for about five minutes until Logan Zehr scored immediately out of a timeout to give the Huskies a 7-0 lead.

The Huskies tacked on three more goals to take a 10-0 lead before the Goldbacks got on the board.

Angelo Beade broke the shutout with 6:02 to go in the third quarter and then Billy Goldstein added the Goldbacks second goal of the game with 4:37 remaining in the quarter.

That was, however, all the offense the Goldbacks could muster.

The Goldbacks (0-1) also struggled in the faceoff dot as Highland’s combination of Logan Zehr and Matt Castellani combined to win 18 of 20 faceoffs.

Klotz led the Huskies’ offense with four goals and an assist. Frankie Guidi had two goals and an assist, while Alec Schlosser scored two goals. Ben Canino, Matt Castellani, and Osei Adoma each had a goal and an assist.

Logan Zehr had three goals.

Landen Zehr made 11 saves in the cage.