It was a rough start for the scholastic Western New York boy’s lacrosse team at the Empire State Games.  Long Island dominated the second half in handing the host region an opening round 10-4 loss in front of a raucous crowd at Canisius College.

Western New York trailed by just one, 3-2 at the half but Long Island came out much more physical and asserted themselves in the trenches and eventually, on the scoreboard.

Kyle Keenan led Long Island (1-0) with three goals and two assists.  James Pannell added a goal and two assists.

Zack Reed, Greg Coholan, Doug DeJoe and Ryan Yunker scored for Western New York, who will face New York City in their second game of the round robin tournament tonight at 8pm.