SCRANTON, Pa. – Sophomore Kyle Holmes (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) matched his career-high with five goals and The No. 3 seed University of Scranton men's lacrosse team (11-7) used a big second quarter to dispatch of the No. 6 seed Drew Rangers (10-8) by a score of 19-10 in Landmark Conference Quarterfinal action on Tuesday night at Weiss Field in Scranton.

With the victory, Scranton advances to battle No. 2 seed Susquehanna in Thursday's semifinals with start time set for 4 p.m.

The Royals trailed 3-2 at the end of the first quarter before outscoring the Rangers by a 7-2 margin in the second to take a 9-5 lead into the locker room.

Holmes opened the scoring 2:48 into the game, but Drew then scored the next three goals to take a 3-1 lead for the time being. In the final minute of the quarter, Holmes scored to cut the deficit to 3-2 and freshman Myles McCutcheon (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) struck early in the second to tie the game at three apiece. The Rangers then regained the lead at 4-3 before a goal by senior Alex Eglitis (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) began a five-goal run over the next 5:11 and McCutcheon capped things off with his second of the game for an 8-4 lead.

Holding a 9-5 lead in the early stages of the third quarter, sophomores Pat McCormack (Livingston, N.J./Livingston) and Jason Kozak (Floral Park, N.Y./Floral Park Memorial) scored just 0:41 apart to stretch the lead to 11-5. Drew was able to cut the lead back to four on two different occasions, but Holmes scored a pair and senior Seamus O'Callaghan (Bethpage, N.Y./Chaminade) added a goal of his own to extend the lead to 15-9 after three. O'Callaghan completed the hat trick with consecutive tallies in the fourth quarter and Scranton held Drew without a goal over the final 14 plus minutes to advance to Thursday's semifinal.

Holmes led the way offensively with a career-best seven points on five goals and two assists, while McCutcheon and O'Callaghan added a hat trick apiece in the victory. Kozak posted a career-high five points with two goals and three assists.

Elsewhere for Scranton, senior Matthew McAree (Manhasset, N.Y./Manhasset) had a goal and three assists and Eglitis tallied two goals, an assist and two ground balls.

Junior John O'Connor (Rocky Point, N.Y./Rocky Point) went 20-31 on faceoffs on the night and collected nine ground balls, while senior Andrew Lord (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) added five ground balls and a caused turnover.

In goal for the Royals, sophomore Declan Allen (Garden City, N.Y./Millbrook) registered eight saves.

A full preview of Thursday's semifinal will be posted at athletics.scranton.edu.

--ROYALS--