FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — The Catholic University men's lacrosse team began its season in winning fashion on Wednesday afternoon, claiming a road victory over the University of Mary Washington.

First-half hat tricks from Victor Rosado and Fitz McLaughlin energized the Cardinals early and ultimately pushed them to a tight win.

Jon Sax's men started the game on a blistering run, largely due to Rosado.

The sophomore attackman opened the scoring in just 65 seconds with an athletic drive to the cage, finishing brilliantly as he fell to the ground. Connor Pierce added a tally shortly after before Rosado completed his hat trick in just seven-and-a-half minutes, forcing a Mary Washington timeout at 4-0.

Cooper DiCicco made sure that the momentum continued for the Cardinals after the timeout. He won the face-off cleanly, rushed straight toward the cage and rifled a rocket past Riley Green to extend Catholic's lead. Only four seconds separated Rosado's third goal and DiCicco's strike.

Mary Washington scored the game's next two goals before the two teams exchanged strikes all the way to halftime. Jack Micco and Danny Fitzgibbons each grabbed their first of the season before McLaughlin scored the last three Cardinals goals before the break to secure a hat trick in under five minutes of gametime. Catholic led 11-6 at the break.

The Eagles flew out of the halftime break, making use of stingy defense to ensure the Cardinals could not extend their lead. Mary Washington held Catholic without a goal in the third stanza and went on a 5-0 run of their own to even the score at 11-11 entering the final frame.

After a cagey first five minutes of the final stanza that saw each goalkeeper make one save, Catholic edged back ahead via Fitzgibbon's second tally. Rosado provided his second assist as the goal snapped a Cardinal dry spell that spanned over 23 minutes of game time.

Mary Washington responded with just under five minutes on the clock through Owen Castleman, who netted for the Eagles to pull them level at 12 apiece.

Catholic responded again as senior Luke D'Ambrogi played a vital role down the stretch. He connected with fellow senior Ryan Carroll with 3:54 remaining in the game to pull ahead again, then scored himself soon after to put the Cardinals up 14-12.

The Eagles scored again and had a golden opportunity to equalize on the man-up if not for some heroic Cardinal defending. Freshman Sam Pikul forced a J.D. Nozemack turnover and, after pushing the bouncing ball to himself, scooped up the vital ground ball. He rushed through the midfield and outletted the ball to Rosado in the attacking third, who promptly and confidently finished past Green for the man-down goal. 

An important face-off win from DiCicco played a key role in salting away the Catholic victory. Senior goalkeeper Nic Pezone picked up right where he left off last season, facing 43 shots and making 14 saves to earn the victory.

Pikul claimed five ground balls while transfer Mike Tayloe scooped up four in what was an impressive performance. Long-stick midfielder Andrew Kearns also grabbed three ground balls and caused two turnovers.

The Cardinals will now begin to prepare for a battle with nationally-ranked Washington and Lee in one week's time. Catholic will welcome the No. 17 Generals on Carlini Field for a 4 p.m. opening face-off.