MADISON, N.J. – Senior Craig Wilkie poured in seven goals and two assists and the Drew University men's lacrosse team earned a 14-8 victory over Neumann University in the season opener for both teams Saturday afternoon at a sunny Ranger Stadium.
 
The Rangers led just 6-5 with 5:52 left in the first half but won going away, outscoring the Knights 8-3 down the stretch.
 
Wilkie's scoring output tied him for fourth-most in team history. He also scored seven times at Lycoming last season while three other Rangers have netted seven tallies.
 
Sophomore Mike DeMayo added three goals, one assist, and seven ground balls for Drew while junior Brett Spafford scored twice. Junior Tyler McCarthy paced the defense with four caused turnovers, while classmate GJ Nazziola went 11-for-22 on faceoffs.
 
Freshman Sawyer Kennedy collected 13 saves while allowing just three goals for the Rangers after entering the game at the start of the second half. Fellow first-year Matt Duarte started between the pipes for Drew and yielded five goals while stopping three shots in the first two quarters.
 
Neumann jumped to an early 2-0 lead, but Drew reeled off the next four goals and would not trail the rest of the way. After sophomore Homero Ortiz scored, Spafford went back-to-back before Wilkie completed the run. The Knights stemmed the rally when they scored a man-up goal in the closing seconds of the quarter and Drew led 4-3 after 15 minutes of play.
 
DeMayo and Wilkie converted back-to-back tallies to put the Rangers up 6-3, but Neumann answered with a 2-0 spurt of its own to make it a one-goal game. But that's when Wilkie heated up, firing in three straight goals over the final four minutes of the half, including one just before the horn to put Drew up 9-5 at the intermission.
 
Wilkie made it four in a row when he scored a man-up goal with 8:59 left in the third quarter. The Knights answered with the next two goals to close the gap to 10-7, but DeMayo quelled the rally with consecutive goals in less than two minutes at the end of the third quarter to put the Rangers up 12-7 heading into the final period.
 
Junior Alex Higgins and Wilkie tacked on insurance goals in the fourth quarter for the Rangers, who allowed just one tally in the stanza.
 
Drew plays its second straight home game to open the season when it takes on Stevens on Wednesday at 7 p.m. back in Ranger Stadium.