MADISON, N.J. (March 15, 2015) – Men's lacrosse finally came to Drew University on a brisk and breezy Sunday afternoon, and after a first half defensive battle, followed by a back-and-forth second half, Washington & Jefferson College outlasted the Rangers, 8-6, in the Landmark Conference opener for both teams.
 
The Rangers (0-3, 0-1) received goals from six different players on Sunday, including the markers by freshman attacker Devin Lyons and sophomore midfielder Tom Cotroneo within 30 seconds of each other to start the scoring in the second quarter. However, a man-up goal by sophomore midfielder Rich Shahpazian to give Drew a 6-5 lead with 8:24 to play in the game would not hold as the Presidents (6-1, 1-0) rattled off three straight goals in the final 2:07 to take the Landmark victory.
 
"We did see a lot of good things for our third game of the season," said head coach Thomas Leanos. "Especially, getting six goals from six different underclassmen. The other side of it is that we saw a lot we need to work on, but it's getting there. We got our shots, but some of the placements were not quite good enough to beat a very solid goalkeeper."
 
Goalkeeper Jacob Succop of Washington & Jefferson denied 16 shots by the Rangers and scooped five ground balls as Drew outshot the Presidents 29-27. Drew's keeper, sophomore Teddy Sweeney, made 10 saves in the Rangers' crease and picked up two ground balls.
 
The first half was a defensive battle sparked by aggressive checking and consistent goalkeeping. Both sides combined for 32 first-half turnovers, many of which were forced. The Presidents were first on the scoreboard with a tally just 1:04 into the contest, but the Rangers would settle down defensively and ended up tying the game at 1-1 with an unassisted goal by sophomore Steven Cola two minutes later.
 
W&J converted an extra-man opportunity with 8:29 to play in the opening quarter to take a 2-1 lead. The second quarter opened with the rapid fire goals by Lyons and Cotroneo, where were the result of heads up passing on the attack. Shahpazian picked up the assist on Lyons' goal, while Cola got the helper on Cotroneo's.
 
The seesaw tilted in the Presidents' direction later in the third quarter as W&J took a 4-3 lead with 2:38 left in the third thanks to a man-up goal and a fast-break goal two minutes later. It only took freshman attacker Harry Rice 30 seconds to knot it up again with his fourth goal of the season, an unassisted blast after senior midfielder Robert Hart won the faceoff and grabbed the ground ball. Again with a quick answer, this time it was W&J to swiftly retake the lead 5-4 with one minute to play in the third.
 
An unassisted rocket by sophomore attacker Ben Ludeman tied the contest yet again at 5-5, and the Rangers took the 6-5 advantage with 8:24 to play when Shahpazian picked up a ground ball right in front of net and slotted one home on a Drew man-up opportunity.
 
Drew would put out its highest shot total in the fourth quarter (10), but it was the Presidents that made their final shots count down the stretch. Three goals in the final 2:07 tied the game, gave Washington & Jefferson the lead, and provided insurance as the Presidents won its 2015 Landmark Conference opener.
 
Drew is scheduled to return to action on Wednesday, March 18 for the Battle of Madison Avenue at 7:00 p.m. at Ranger Stadium against cross-street rival FDU-Florham.