Acorn

In a young season of heartbreaking losses for the men�s lacrosse team, the sting of Wednesday�s defeat to King�s College may be the most difficult to stomach � largely because it happened so quickly. With just 7 seconds left in regulation time, T.J. Lyon of King�s College fired a shot past freshman goalie Mike Celentano and shocked Drew by overcoming a 5-2 deficit to seal the deal with a 7-6 victory.

It was an �eye for an eye� between the two teams until halftime. Though the Rangers drew first blood at 12:02 off a goal by sophomore Jordan Bloch, King�s quickly responded with a goal of their own to tie it at one. A pair of goals between junior Cory Helly and senior Phil Rosenau boosted the lead to 3-1, only to have the Monarchs strike back to make it a one-point game. However, Drew built a solid, albeit insecure, 5-2 lead with 3:51 remaining in the second quarter, taking the score into halftime.

The Monarchs would begin their long climb back to the top of the scoreboard after scoring just 38 seconds into the third period and then adding another point four minutes later. Though the second goal from junior Tom Stitt boosted Drew�s lead to 6-4, King�s crawled back to tie it up at 6-6 with just under four minutes to go in regulation time. With the possibility of overtime play swiftly approaching plausibility, Lyon took a final regulation-time shot which would end the game before it moved into extra periods.

Drew men�s lacrosse currently stands winless at 0-4.

Coach Tom Leanos attributes the team�s current record to dominant performances of opposing teams and their exploitation of Drew�s on-field mistakes and missed opportunities.

�Our specialty units, man-up-and-man-down have been a bright spot so far in almost all of our games, but good teams have a way of making you pay for your mistakes,� he said.

This was the case in the 12-9 loss to Trinity College in the season opener as well as the 19-4 loss to Connecticut College on March 14th during spring break play. Though Drew opened up the season by taking a 4-0 lead in the Trinity game, the team�s �failure to effectively execute on the clear allowed [Trinity] to pass us in the third period,� Leanos said.

And Connecticut�s domination on face offs and Drew�s �failure to clear effectively hurt us again,� Leanos said in reference to the 19-4 loss. The final San Diego game against Colorado College on March 17 added a third defeat to the loss column, when Colorado established a 6-0 lead early on the game and maintained it until the end of the game.

Despite the winless record thus far, Leanos is maintaining a no-nonsense attitude toward what has happened and what needs to be done. �We were underdogs in each of our first three games and would have had to play solid games with few mistakes,� he said. �We didn�t do that and it cost us. We know that�s the area we need to improve on.�

Drew next plays away against Scranton on March 25.

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