Men's Lacrosse Falls to Drew, 9-7

UNION, N.J. (3/7/12) – Drew University jumped out to an early 4-0 lead and held off host Kean University, 9-7, in non-conference men’s lacrosse action on Wednesday evening.

For Drew (3-0), senior midfielder Sean McGowan and junior attack Scott Humphreys each had three goals and an assist in the win.  For the Cougars (3-1), junior goalkeeper Lane Zierten stopped 15 shots, while sophomore Richard Cheifitz (pictured left) had a goal and four assists.

Drew took an early 4-0 lead after the first quarter, scoring three goals in the final 67 seconds.  The Cougars answered right back in the second quarter, cutting the deficit to 4-3 at the break, as Cheifitz had a pair of assists on man-up goals by sophomore John Marcelli and senior Nick Angrisani. 

In the second half, the Cougars tied the game at 4-4 when Cheifitz netted the goal off an assist from junior Ryan Buerkle just 1:07 in the third quarter.  The two teams traded goals, before Humphreys netted back-to-back goals just 1:17 apart late in the quarter to take the lead for good at 7-5.

McGowan extended the Drew lead to 8-5 to start the fourth quarter, before Buerkle pulled the Cougars to within a pair of goals less than a minute later.  McGowan again pushed the lead to three goals and Marcelli closed out the scoring with 10 minutes remaining in the game with the man-up goal for the final of 9-7.

Marcelli finished with a team-high two goals, while defender Zach Williams had four groundballs, two caused turnovers and an assist. 

McGowan added five groundballs and won 15-of-18 faceoffs.  Drew held a 37-30 advantage in shots for the game, including a 15-3 edge in the first quarter.  Goalkeeper Charlie DeSocio finished with 13 saves.

Kean returns to action on Saturday, March 7, when the Cougars host Elizabethtown College at 1 p.m.