ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Virginia Military Institute men's lacrosse team opened its 2014 season on Saturday, taking on the United States Naval Academy for a seventh-straight season as the opener. The Midshipmen won 18-5 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in non-conference action.

The Keydets (0-1) got a one-two punch from senior Mickey Hofmeister and junior Mike DeBlasio, two of the team's three captains this season. DeBlasio notched three goals, the fifth hat trick of his career, while Hofmeister potted a pair. The two attackmen assisted each other once. Hofmeister's goals were his first since Apr. 14, 2012 after missing all of 2013 with a lower body injury.

The Mids (1-0) jumped out to a 10-goal lead before halftime, sparked by 10 points from Sam Jones on four goals and six assists. Tucker Hall scored three times and had two assists for five points on the day. Pat Durkin netted two goals and had one assist as Patrick Keena had one goal and one assist. Six other Mids scored goals while another had one assist each.

“We never hammer too much on turnovers, the way we play I hate to say they're irrelevant but I don't get caught up with that too much,” said head coach Brian Anken, who has begun each of his four seasons at VMI against Navy. “It was some of the decision making between the boxes that came back to bite us today.”

Between the pipes, VMI's Evan Windisch made the first start of his career, making a 10 saves. The junior played all 60 minutes in goal for the Keydets. Opposite Windisch, John Connors got the win, making seven saves in his 52 minutes of work. Paul Zimmerman finished the game for the Mids, making one stop.

Defensively, VMI was led by junior Tyler Prasnicki, who forced three Midshipmen turnovers. the team's third captain, Rory Dillon, logged one caused turnover, as did Windisch, Ty Trobridge, Tom Brown and midfielder Dale Mattice.

“We made them earn their goals in settled situations. We needed to counter in some unsettled and chaos goals the way they did today. They took great advantage of it today,” said Anken.

The Keydets struggled in clearing, gaining the zone 15 times on 25 attempts. Navy cleared 21 of their 25 tries, including several in odd-number situations that led to goals. VMI lost the ground ball game, collecting 27 against Navy's 44. The Mids won the faceoff game as well, taking 21 of the 27 attempts.

A team that pressures heavily on defense, the Keydets did not take a penalty. The Midshipmen were penalized three times, including a pair on Colin Flounlacker that resulted in a two-minute extra-man opportunity for VMI.  DeBlasio's third goal of the day came during the two minute man-up period.