MADISON, N.J. (March 29, 2017) — With a victory over FDU-Florham, the Drew University men's lacrosse team took back the Madison Cup by winning the Battle of Madison Avenue, 12-6, in front of the home crowd at Ranger Stadium on Wednesday evening.
 
By the Numbers: Drew evens its overall record at 4-4, while FDU falls to 4-5. The Rangers host the Madison Cup for the first time since winning it 2014, breaking a two-game winning streak by the Devils in the rivalry series.
 
Top Performers
• The Rangers' two top scorers enjoyed hat tricks in the victory. For freshman midfielder, Kevin Goettlich, it was his second career hatty. He capped the Rangers' 4-0 run that they began after FDU drew first blood when he entered the zone alone and converted the score. Goettlich's goal total stands at 13 on the season.
• The Rangers' most prolific goal scorer, junior attacker Jack Crowley scored three times as well, notching goals in three of the four quarters played. The performance was good for Crowley's third hat trick on the year and he improves his team-high goal total to 15.
• Senior goalkeeper Teddy Sweeney made 19 saves in a strong performance that saw him fall just one save shy of his career high. Sweeney has now stopped 39 shots over the last two games, and improves to 4-2 in net this season.
 
The Difference: The Devils may have scored first, but motivated by the quick setback, Drew exploded for four consecutive scores in the following 15 minutes. FDU scored to break that drought but Drew responded with a five-goal flurry that set them up for certain victory.
 
Highlights
• Sophomore attacker Ryan D'Alessandro contributed a pair of goals to the effort to increase his season total to 11.
• Junior midfielder Joe Palmieri set the tone with his aggressive style of play, but also lit the stat sheet up. He scored the first goal of the game for Drew and also pitched in a pair of assists to go along with seven wins on the faceoff.
• Senior midfielder Tom Cotroneo, senior defender Michael Lloyd, and freshman midfielder Kyle MacDonnell all scored in the rivalry win. MacDonnell would scoop a team-high four ground balls and add two assists to the cause for his career-high three points.
 
Stat Sheet
• FDU tried 48 shots but the combination of Sweeney's stellar play and Drew's stagnant defense kept a ton of those out of and away from the net.
• Drew went 20-for-25 on clears and scooped 31 ground balls to FDU's 30.
• There were 19 penalties called, one more than total goals scored in the game. Drew was 0-for-9 on the man-up opportunity, while the Devils didn't fare much better with a 1-of-10 mark.
 
Up Next: Next on the docket for Drew is an away game against Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday, April 1 at 2:00 p.m.