Drew defeated Wesley, 13-7, to advance to the ECAC Championship match for the second straight season. Jon Bucknam had three goals and two assists for the Rangers who will face Stevens Tech in the title game on Sunday at 3 PM. Drew is looking to repeat as ECAC Metro/South Champions after the 2008 win over Swarthmore.

The first period ended with Rangers up 2-1 thanks to a pair of goals from Sean McNulty. The Wolverines were up just nine seconds in to the game after Joe Trezza turned in Dan Skeels’ assist almost immediately.

Usually it is the Rangers who pull that move, so a quick reply was not unexpected. Jon Dowiak won the ensuing face-off to win a possession that would end in McNulty’s first goal. He ripped from the right side to score a goal, not unlike his game winner against Catholic earlier this year.

It took a while, but McNulty’s next gave Drew the lead. With 3:26 left in the period, the senior tallied again after a long run from the midfield. McNulty finished low for his 21st goal of the game.

Drew opened the scoring in the second period when Mike Sayers found Tyler Morse for the sophomore’s first of the game. Morse added his second moments later after a typical win by Dowiak and a smart feed from Bucknam nine seconds after the previous goal.

Wesley countered with a goal through Dan Skeels, but Sayers found Rex Riley for a nice quick-stick finish with just over nine minutes remaining.

A crazy flurry of play saw three goals scored in 19 seconds as Drew built a 7-3 lead. With 7:32 left, Jim McCleaft made a nice save on Dowiak before the Wolverines clear took just five seconds to get back down to the Drew end. Justin Thompson scored with 7:20 left for Wesley.

Drew scored just six seconds later as Dowiak won the faceoff and groundball before assisting on Mike Sayers’ layup.

Dowiak won the next face off as well to help put the Rangers up by four just a few seconds later as Mike Sayers was on the doorstep to collect Jon Bucknam’s rebound. McCleaft had no chance to recover after a fine first save as Sayers dunked it for the 7-3 lead with 7:01 left.

The Wolverines scored the final two goals of the half to make it 7-5. First, Justin Thompson took a pass from Brad Smith behind the cage. Thompson’s had a good look in the middle, though his shot seemed to get deflected passed Celentano for the Wolverines’ fourth goal. Smith then took advantage of the Rangers’ wide open back door to net from close range off Nick Pisacano’s assist.

The Rangers had dominated the half, outshooting Wesley 32-8, but McCleaft was huge in goal for the guests. His 16 saves kept his team close and showed why he has been a four-time all-conference honoree for the Wolverines. He would finish the game with 21 stops.

The third period was the key one as Drew outscored Wesley 4-1. Thompson scored early in the period, but the Rangers tallied the last four. First, Jon Bucknam found Sean McGowan on the crease. McGowan put it away for his career goal. Next, Bucknam got a pair of his own. The first came off a great feed from Mike Sayers. From behind the net, Sayers’ no look pass stunned the Wolverines as Bucknam was alone on the crease. His second was all his own work. Bucknam took a long run behind the net before rolling across and finishing as he got hit from behind.

Tyler Morse made it 11-6 with shot through the 5-hole from the left side. Celentano came up with a big save near the end of the half to keep the Rangers up by five.

The 12th came from Zach Rapp whose long distance frozen rope came off of Mike Riccardi’s nice feed from behind the goal. It was Rapp’s first career goal, but had you seen the shot and not the stats you would have pegged him for many, many more.

Just one Wolverine goal was left in the game as Justin D’Alonzo scored off of Smith’s assist with just over two minutes left. Bucknam scored an empty-netter late in the game for his third and Drew’s lucky 13th.

The Rangers will take on the Stevens Ducks on Sunday. Stevens defeated Kean, 14-4, in the ECAC’s other semifinal.

Lacrosse Game Summary (Final)
                            The Automated ScoreBook
        Wesley Wolverines vs Drew Rangers (May 08, 2009 at Madison, NJ)

                Wesley Wolverines (11-6) vs. Drew Rangers (9-7)
Date: May 08, 2009  Location: Madison, NJ           Stadium: Ranger Stadium      
Attendance:325   Start time:7:00 pm   End time:9:00      Total time:2:00    


Score by period       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Wesley Wolverines...  1  4  1  1 -  7
Drew Rangers........  2  5  4  2 - 13

Wesley Wolverines SCORING: GOALS: Justin Thompson 3; Brad Smith 1; Dan
Skeels 1; Joe Trezza 1; Justin D'Alonzo 1. 
ASSISTS: Brad Smith 2; Brad Bivins 1; Nick Pisacano 1; Dan Skeels 1. 

Drew Rangers SCORING: GOALS: Jon Bucknam 3; Tyler Morse 3; Mike Sayers
2; Sean McNulty 2; Rex Riley 1; Sean McGown 1; Zach Rapp 1. 
ASSISTS: Mike Sayers 3; Jon Bucknam 2; Jon Dowiak 1; Michael Riccardi
1. 

Wesley Wolverines GROUND BALLS: Rob King 6; Brad Bivins 3; Brett Jolly
3; Jim McCleaft 3; Kirk Waldie 3; Robb Lombardi 2; Ken McDonald 2;
Brad Smith 2; Nick Pisacano 1; Dan Skeels 1; Nate Smeltzer 1; Justin
Thompson 1; Joe Trezza 1. 

Drew Rangers GROUND BALLS: Michael DeGiovanni 10; Jon Dowiak 10; Sean
McGown 6; Jon Bucknam 4; Gary DiClementi 4; Steve Carnes 2; Aidan
Ehrenberg 2; Sean McNulty 2; Tyler Morse 2; Michael Riccardi 2; Rex
Riley 2; 7B 1; Michael Celentano 1; Nick Dellafera 1; Jim Felix 1;
Curtis Fornarotto 1; Greg Hamilton 1; Henry Paulin 1; Mike Sayers 1. 

Wesley Wolverines TURNOVERS CAUSED: Jimmy Colliflower 1; Joe Trezza 1;
Kirk Waldie 1. 
Drew Rangers TURNOVERS CAUSED: Gary DiClementi 3; Michael DeGiovanni
1; Curtis Fornarotto 1; Greg Hamilton 1. 

SHOTS - WES 23; DREW 50.
SHOTS ON GOAL - WES 16; DREW 34.

PENALTIES - WES 3/2:30; DREW 3/2:30.
MAN-UP OPPORTUNITIES - WES 0-3; DREW 0-3.

TURNOVERS - WES 23; DREW 17.

FACEOFFS - WES 8-24; DREW 16-24.

CLEARS - WES 15-19; DREW 17-22.

GOALIES - WES: Jim McCleaft (60:00 minutes, 34 shots-21 saves, 13 GA); 
DREW: Michael Celentano (60:00, 16-9, 7).

Start time: 7:00 pm   Finish time: 9:00      Length of game: 2:00 
Officials:. Scorer: al, mf, ak.

A-325 T-2:00