NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- Paul Chapman scored four times to lead Houghton men's lacrosse in a 17-7 season-opening loss at Westminster on Saturday.

Paul's brother, Cole, put the visitors on the board first, just one minute into the contest. And after two goals by the Titans, Paul put in his first of the day to even the score at 2-2. The teams traded the next two goals, with Justin Hatch getting in the scoring column to bring the score to 3-3. But the hosts would score the next four goals to close the half with a 7-3 lead and opened the third quarter with another goal to go up by five.

Paul Chapman scored his second of the afternoon to make it 9-4 before the Titans answered with six more to push the margin to 15-4.

Another Chapman goal trimmed the deficit to 10 midway through the fourth, before Westminster tallied twice to go up 17-5. Ryan Palmer netted his first of the year with 2:53 left and Chapman closed the scoring with his fourth just one minute later.

"We came out at the beginning of the game playing really well," said first-year Head Andrew Lundeen. "Jorge Medina made some great saves that helped us stay within striking distance. Unfortunately, we were not able to close out the game as we would have liked. Westminster had some great shooters who were able to capitalize on our mistakes throughout the second half. We will take the opportunity to learn from what happened and look to respond against Lyndon State on Wednesday."

Cole Chapman led the Highlanders with 11 shots, while Paul finished with 10. Jackson Wheeler had a team-high eight ground balls. Nathan Moore was 10-for-26 in the faceoff circle.

The Titans held a 51-34 advantage in shots, with Houghton freshman keeper Jorge Medina making 11 stops between the pipes.

Houghton (0-1) is back in action when they host Lyndon State on Wednesday, March 1 at 1 p.m.