MADISON, N.J. - Junior Craig Wilkie piled up career-highs of six goals and four assists as the Drew University men's lacrosse team rode a big second half to a 17-9 victory over Albright College in its season opener Saturday afternoon in Ranger Stadium.

The win marked the first collegiate coaching victory for Drew first-year Head Coach Dan Leidl C'97.

Freshman Mike DeMayo added three goals and three assists for the Rangers, who never trailed in the game and outscored the Lions 12-5 in the second half.

Sophomore GJ Nazziola enjoyed a big game at the X, finishing 20-for-26 on faceoffs while picking up eight ground balls. Senior Jeremy Gottlieb collected 11 saves in his collegiate debut in goal for Drew while sophomore David Burke notched eight ground balls as a faceoff wing.

Wilkie's six goals place him in a six-way tie for sixth-most in one game in Drew history. In addition, his 10 points are tied for the fourth-most in team history and the most since Eric Siegel tied the school record with 13 points versus King's on April 3, 2002.

Jack Burke led Albright with four goals and two assists.

The Rangers scored 39 seconds apart early in the game to go up 2-0. But the Lions blanked Drew over the remainder of the quarter while scoring twice to make it a 2-2 game after one period of play.

The two sides traded goals twice at the start of the second quarter on goals from freshman Charlie Collins and Wilkie. Then with 3:24 left in the half, Wilkie struck again to give the Rangers a 5-4 halftime advantage.

Drew opened up some breathing at the start of the second half, opening on a 3-0 spurt. Freshman Brian Windisch scored less than a minute into the period before junior Tommy Larmore converted back-to-back tallies to put the hosts up 8-4 with 11:57 left in the quarter.

After Albright scored twice to cut the deficit in half, the Rangers responded with a 3-1 run to end the period and open up an 11-7 lead. Wilkie, DeMayo, and Windisch all found paydirt during the surge.

Drew put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter, when it outscored the Lions 6-2. The Rangers scored five unanswered goals during a decisive stretch that turned a four-goal lead into a nine-goal bulge (17-8) with 5:02 left. Five different Rangers scored during the run, as Wilkie, DeMayo, sophomore Alex Higgins, and freshmen Luke Bruther and Trevor Spinelli all found the back of the net.

The Rangers outshot the Lions 58-30 for the game and held a 34-23 edge in ground balls.

Drew returns to action next Saturday, when it hosts Penn College at 1 p.m. in another non-conference match-up.