READING, Pa. – The Albright men's lacrosse team opened the 2020 season with an 11-8 setback to Drew on a cold Saturday afternoon at Shirk Stadium in non-conference action.
 
It was the Lions first game against a Landmark Conference opponent since the 2017 season when they faced Elizabethtown.
 
Albright opened the game strong on offense as they ripped two goals in under the first three minutes of the game to take a 2-0 lead at the 12:22-mark, forcing the Rangers to call a timeout. Junior John Gilbert opened the scoring before sophomore Cole Genneken added the second one off a feed from first-year Harrison Bodwell. The Rangers got on the board at the 5:52-mark of the first quarter to make it 2-1, which started a four-goal run to close out the first quarter. Drew added a man-up goal at the 3:44-mark before tallying its third goal just 21 seconds later. The Rangers capped the run with two seconds left in the quarter.
 
Drew tallied its fifth-straight goal at the 10:54-mark of the second quarter before Genneken ended the run at the 9:38-mark with his second goal of the game. Sophomore Eric Broadway cut the Ranger lead down to 5-4 at the 7:56-mark of the second quarter on a man-up opportunity, but the Lions were unable to score the rest of the quarter.
 
The Rangers struck in the first minute of the third quarter to go up 6-4 before sophomore Jacob Cunningham responded with an unassisted goal at the 7:57-mark.  However, the Rangers responded with back-to-back goals to go up 8-5 with 1:19 left in the third quarter. Drew continued the run into the fourth quarter with a goal at the 12:50-mark to take their largest lead of the game at 9-5. Junior Connor Graser snapped the run at the 12:29-mark of fourth quarter with his first goal of the game, but the Rangers responded just 1:03 later to go up 10-6. Genneken pulled the Lions within three at 10-7 with 9:46 left in regulation before Bodwell made it a 10-8 game at the 3:05-mark. However, the Rangers ended any hope of an Albright comeback with a goal at the 1:37-mark.
 
Drew held a slight 45-37 shot advantage for the game, and a 30-22 advantage in shots on goal. Each team grabbed 37 ground balls, while the Rangers held a 12-10 advantage in face off wins. In his collegiate debut, first-year goalkeeper Liam Ferry made 19 saves in the full 60 minutes despite suffering the loss. Meanwhile, Nate Sanders earned the win in net for the Rangers after making 14 saves in the full 60 minutes. Genneken led the way for the Albright with three goals, Broadway posted three points behind two assists and one goal, while three other Lions tallied two points off a goal and assist.
 
The Lions will return to action on Saturday, February 22^nd when they will host Misericordia at 3 p.m.