WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Catholic University men's lacrosse team grabbed its first victory of the season on Saturday afternoon, downing Pfeiffer 16-12.

Peter Donley picked up the first win of his career as a head coach as the Cardinals used two vital runs to triumph over the Falcons.

The Cardinals were utterly dominant in the first quarter, putting seven past Pfeiffer while shutting out the opponents over the first 15 minutes. Six different Cardinals scored in the opening stanza including Bjorn Olofson and Logan Farrington, both of whom netted their first collegiate goals. Ryan Macksoud was massive at the face-off X, winning seven consecutive face-offs after dropping the first of the game due to a violation. Macksoud's prominence was a consistent theme throughout the day as the junior went an impressive 21-of-32 (65.6%) from the X.

Despite the comprehensive Cardinal first quarter performance, Pfeiffer responded well in the second stanza to cut into the lead. The Falcons outscored the Cardinals 6-1 to trim the deficit to just two goals at halftime, taking advantage of a mutliple Catholic penalties en route to a 2-for-3 mark on the man-up during the quarter. Cullen Lotz scored the lone Catholic goal of the stanza.

The contest intensified in the third when the teams traded goals three times before the Falcons took advantage of two late-quarter man-ups to knot the game at 11. Brady McMahon had a huge quarter for the Cardinals, finding the net twice to complete his hat trick and assisting Mike Mulligan on the other tally. 

Both teams entered the final quarter of play on equal terms after the Falcon equalizer with 44 seconds remaining in the third. It was Donley's team, however, that began the quarter stronger and ultimately rode a flurry to victory.

Five different Cardinals scored in the final stanza, beginning with Steven Dezelic just two-and-a-half minutes into the quarter. He took a feed from Olofson for the tally to mark the freshman's first-career assist, adding to his goal earlier on. Mulligan, Fitz McLaughlin, Matt Ford and Victor Rosado all scored while the defense allowed just one goal to seal the win. Ford became the third Cardinal to registered his first Cardinal goal in the game.

McMahon led the way with four goals and two assists while Rosado scored twice and handed out three helpers. Four Cardinals-Ford, Ian McKinley, Mike Tayloe and Sam Pikul-regustered two caused turnovers a piece while Tayloe and Pikul both gathered an impressive five ground balls each. Macksoud scooped up 13 ground balls as part of his monster day at the X.

Tyler Merchant made seven saves in the Cardinal cage en route to his first collegiate win. As a team, Catholic won the battle in turnovers (26-23) and ground balls (46-31) while outclearing the Falcons 20-of-23 to 21-of-26. Pfeiffer went an impressive 4-of-5 on extra-man opportunities.

The Cardinals will continue their three-game homestand on Wednesday night when Catholic welcomes Mary Washington to Carlini Field. Opening face-off is set for 6 p.m.