The Terrapins men’s lacrosse team played two scrimmages Saturday at Byrd Stadium, defeating Bucknell, 9-8, and Towson, 14-5, in its first organized competition of the year.

Temperatures hovered around freezing for most of the afternoon with wind chills making it feel even colder, and the unforgiving weather caused sloppy play from the Terps early against the Bison, who jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first half.

Defensive lapses during the third quarter and beginning of the fourth quarter allowed Bucknell to build a sizable 8-2 lead with many of the goals coming from wide-open men on the crease. The Terps, however, responded by scoring seven unanswered goals over the final 11 minutes of the game to clinch a one-goal victory.

Coach John Tillman’s squad had a similarly slow start against the Tigers, falling behind 4-1 in the first quarter. The Terps again countered their opponent with an impressive scoring run, though, rattling off 11 unanswered goals over a span of more than 40 minutes stretching from the end of the first quarter into the fourth quarter.

“I think early on you’re feeling out the other team a little bit,” Tillman said. “You’re trying to get your feet wet, feel comfortable, get some confidence, so I think for us it took us a little bit to get going.”

Goalie Kyle Bernlohr played all 120 minutes in net for the Terps while starting goalie Niko Amato didn’t see any action. Bernlohr had a tremendous second half against the Tigers, surrendering only one goal.

“I thought Kyle did great,” Tillman said. “His first opportunity to get significant playing time — he got a lot of it — and I thought he cleared the ball well, he played with a lot of energy. Certainly gave us a chance to win every game.”

The Terps are back in action next Saturday with scrimmages against Pennsylvania and Drexel in Philadelphia starting at 1 p.m. The group will open its regular season at home on Feb. 8 against Mount St. Mary’s.