MADISON, N.J. – Behind five goals from senior midfielder Jake Higgins (Bridgewater, N.J.),the FDU-Florham men's lacrosse team claimed a 7-4 victory over Drew University in the Battle of Madison Ave. on Wednesday night at Ranger Stadium.

The five goals are a single-game high for Higgins, who has returned to form this season after missing 2014 with an injury. Higgins now has a team-high eight goals on the campaign.

The victory for the Devils (2-3) is their second straight and their first against the Rangers (0-4) since 2006.

FDU-Florham consistently pressured the Rangers early in the contest but Drew registered the first score when Tom Cotroneo found Harry Rice who aggressively charged the net for a 1-0 lead.

With 3:22 to go in the opening period, Higgins fired a blast past the Rangers' keeper and into the back of the cage. Then, with the first-quarter clock winding down, Higgins put the Devils in front with another goal, just three seconds shy of the horn.

The Devils increased their lead to 3-1 early in the second quarter when Daniel Minnich (Laurys Station, Pa.) finished a feed from sophomore Dave Magrini (Montclair, N.J.) for his sixth score of the season.

Rice pulled the Rangers even with a man-up goal and another tally 10 seconds shy of the halftime whistle, which sent the game into the break knotted at 3-3. The second goal by Rice came off of an impressive one-man effort, which began with a steal on a clearing pass by FDU-Florham goalkeeper Conner Evans (Ringwood, N.J.) and concluded with a diving, open-net shot.

The Devils' aggressiveness was evident in the game's first 30 minutes as they outshot the home team 25-12 in the opening stanza.

After Drew's Joe Palmieri netted the first score of the third quarter, Higgins tied the game again by sending a rocket from Nick Ardolino (Florham Park, N.J.) into the back of the net.

A minute later, freshman midfielder Dan Sagl (West Islip, N.Y.) put the Devils in front for good by working his way into the Rangers net area and slipping in the go-ahead goal.

The two defenses settled in and neither side scored over the final 11:36 of the frame. In the fourth period, the Devils took control, dominating possession before Higgins sealed the win with his fourth and fifth goals of the night.

FDU-Florham sophomore midfielder Dalton Rimmer (Vernon, N.J.) dominated inside the face-off circle all night long. The second-year standout won 13-of-15 face-offs, which propelled FDU-Florham's offensive success.

Evans, a first-year netminder, did an excellent job in net for the Devils and turned away 10 Rangers' shots to earn the victory.

The Devils return to action this Sunday, March 22 when they visit Farmingdale State University at 3:30 p.m.