WASHINGTON, D.C. - On a nasty weather day in D.C., the Catholic University Cardinals fell 9-6 to the Alfred Saxons on Saturday afternoon at Cardinal Stadium. Catholic falls to 2-2 as it enters Landmark Conference play next weekend at Susquehanna. 

Trailing 9-6 with 7:25 remaining in the contest, Catholic started with possession on its own 31-yard line after forcing an Alfred punt. The Cardinals started to matriculate the ball down the field, short gain after short gain. A holding penalty set up a third-and-20 from the Catholic 41. The Cardinals handed the ball off for minimal gain, but the Saxons jumped offsides, bringing Catholic five yards closer to the mark. Madden Lowe hit Preston Jeffrey for a 14-yard gain, setting up a fourth-and-one that Lowe converted with a three-yard scamper. 

Now on the move in Alfred territory, Zach Williams dashed forward for nine yards on second-and-12 before picking up five more to give the Cardinals another first down at the Alfred 25. Catholic lost four yards on first down before getting back to the original line of scrimmage on second down. Lowe found Andrew Tabor for seven yards on third down, but the Cardinals remained three yards short of the sticks at the Alfred 18-yard line. Mike Gutelius ran the clock to 25 seconds and sent out Connor Gill, who accounted for all of Catholic's points on the day, for a 35-yarder, but the kick sailed left and the Saxons hung on for the victory. 

Catholic totaled seven or more plays on seven separate drives on Saturday, but two resulted in field goals, four resulted in a loss of downs, and one resulted in the missed field goal. 

Despite the conditions, Lowe stayed efficient, completing 31-of-44 passes for 226 yards, but Alfred recorded three sacks and a handful of bad snaps led to Lowe losing 23 yards on the ground. Williams remained a bright spot, gaining 92 yards after rushing for 101 yards last weekend. Jeffrey reached 150 catches for his career, nabbing nine balls for 89 yards on the day. Tabor caught nine passes for 60 yards while seven other Cardinals had a reception in the game. 

Defensively, Michael Hopkins and Carson Henry combined for 23 tackles while Henry added a sack and a pass-break up. Lawson Haylock got into the backfield for a pair of TFLs while Luke Brautigan had 1.5 TFLs as well. Ryan Creston recorded his first career interception early in the contest. 

Alfred scored to start via a safety late in the first quarter on a snap over Lowe's head out of the back of the end zone. They led 2-0 for just over six minutes before Gill's first field goal put Catholic ahead 3-2. The Cardinals led 6-2 at halftime after another Gill field goal, but Alfred retook the lead with 1:35 remaining in the third as Max Freeman IV ran it in from 10 yards out after a Joe Copp fumble recovery set them up in great field position. 

Catholic held Alfred to just 147 yards of total offense and 2.6 yards per play. The Saxons ran for 90 yards on 44 attempts and gained 57 yards through the air on just six completions. Alfred was just 1-15 on third downs and two-of-five on fourth down. 

The Cardinals head to Selinsgrove, Pa. next weekend to face off with Susquehanna to open Landmark Conference play.