MADISON, N.J. (March 25, 2017) – The Drew University men's lacrosse team scored the first three goals of the game, but The Catholic University of America scored seven unanswered to win the Landmark Conference opener, 7-3, at Ranger Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
 
By the Numbers: Catholic improves to 9-1 overall with its eighth consecutive victory, while the Rangers drop to 3-4. It was the first conference game of the season for both teams.
 
Top Performers
• Sophomore attacker Ryan D'Alessandro had his hand in the early Ranger lead, scoring a goal and assisting on another as Drew took a 3-0 lead late in the second quarter. D'Alessandro added six groundballs and a caused turnover to his stat line.
• Senior defender Frank Kingston scored the second goal of his season and career to put Drew up 3-0 with 3:56 left in the first period, while also pitching in two groundballs and a caused turnover.
• Senior goalkeeper Teddy Sweeney tied his career high with 20 saves, the third 20-save performance of his career. He faced 38 shots and 27 on goal during the game.
• Freshman midfielder Kevin Goettlich continued his scoring streak with a goal in the setback. He has now scored in all seven games of his young collegiate career for a total of 10.
 
The Difference: Catholic needed an answer to Drew's 3-0 lead. It came decisively in the second period with 3:45 before halftime, where the Cardinals started not only a seven-goal run, but buckled down on defense to shut Drew out for the remainder of the game and limit shots in general.
 
Highlights
• Goettlich got the scoring started six minutes into the game on a man-up opportunity following a Catholic penalty. D'Alessandro fed the freshman in front of the net for the seemingly easy dump in for the 1-0 advantage.
• Drew made it 2-0 about 3:30 later with a D'Alessandro marker, which was the result of a crossing pass from senior midfielder Tom Cotroneo. Kingston pushed the lead to 3-0 one minute and a half later thanks to junior Jack Crowley's assist.
• Catholic's first goal came just 11 seconds after Kingston made it 3-0, starting the comeback with a head of steam. The Cardinals scored again a minute later to set the score at 3-2 heading into half.
 
Stat Sheet
• The Cardinals held a 38-18 advantage in shots, as well as winning the groundball battle (40-30) and faceoff war (10-4).
• Catholic was better on the clear, 14-of-17, compared to Drew's 16-of-21 mark.
• Catholic was 1-of-4 on its man-up opportunities, while the Rangers posted a 1-of-3 grade on the man-advantage.
 
Up Next: The Rangers host the 2017 Battle of Madison Avenue against FDU-Florham on Wednesday, March 29 at 7:00 p.m. at Ranger Stadium.