GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Despite an enormous single-game record 24 saves by sophomore Wyatt Stemler in his first career start at goalie, the Capital University men's lacrosse team opened the 2026 season with an 11-8 road loss at Calvin on Saturday. 

With the first game under their belts, Capital is now 0-1, while Calvin is 1-0. 

The first quarter was one to forget for the Comets who struggled to get going int he first 15 minutes of their season as the hosts stormed out to a 4-0 lead to start the second stanza. Ultimately, that deficit proved to be too much to climb out of for the Purple and White as the end result would finish with a three-goal spread. 

Despite being down, the Comets did not let themselves fall out of it as they took just over a minute and a half of the second quarter to score their first of the season. The goal came off the stick of Jess Lipp who scored the first of his collegiate career off a feed from Charlie Howenstine. 

The hosts would strike one back to make it 5-1, but another Howenstine to Lipp combination resulted in a second Comet goal just 37 seconds before halftime. 

Down three, the Comets got within two at the 11:07 mark of the third quarter, making it 5-3 as Colton Woods scored his first of the year off a feed from the already busy Lipp. 

A couple of goals by Calvin extended their lead, but a pair of quickfire goals from Aiden Evans and Howenstine made it a 7-5 game. The goal for Evans was his first in Purple and White. 

As the fourth quarter wound on, the Comets would get more goals from Lipp (Howenstine assist), Evan Legner (Kaison Durham assist), and Colton Woods, but they would only tighten the gap to 11-8 by the final horn. 

All-in-all, Jess Lipp led the Comets with four points on a hat-trick and one assist in his collegiate debut, while Charlie Howenstine also added four points on a goal and three assists. 

Colton Woods finished with two goals, while Aiden Evans and Evan Legner each scored once. 

Kaison Durham finished with a pair of assists. 

Defensively, Dylan Christopherson and Jonathan Hart each had two caused turnovers, while Freddy Noday, Leelan Durham, Gino Nave, Lipp, Elliott Rhoton, Mason Ridgway each had one. 

Wyatt Stemler led the team with six ground balls, followed by five from Noday, four from Christopherson and Anthony Carusone and three each from Leelan Durham and Christian Akins. 

At the faceoff, Noday went 11-for-18, while Tyler Lieu was 2-for-5. 

In the cage, Wyatt Stemler made a program single-game record 24 saves. His save total broke the prior record of 21, set by Sam McInturf in 2020. Stemler's record performance came in just his first career start at goalie. 

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Capital will next play on the road on Saturday, February 21st as they travel to Kenyon College. Faceoff is set for 1 p.m. in Gambier.