Dragons Fall to No. 14 UMass in Triple Overtime, 11-10

Amherst, Mass. – Kyle Smith scored the game winning goal with 2:37 left in the third overtime as UMass defeated Drexel, 11-10, in a Colonial Athletic Association game at Garber Field. UMass (8-3, 3-1) rallied from a four-goal deficit to hand the Dragons a difficult road loss. The Dragons fell to 6-6 overall and 2-3 in CAA play.

Smith took a pass from Will Manny and beat Mark Manos to the short side, giving the 14th-ranked Minutemen their second straight overtime win.

UMass had two big chances in the first overtime, but both Anthony Biscardi and Ryan Hantverk were turned aside by Mark Manos. Scott Perri had Drexel's only shot, which was saved by Tim McCormack. In the second overtime, Manos again came up big, thwarting Kyle Smith's shot from right in front of the cage. Perri had the final shot in the second extra period, but McCormack made the stop forcing another overtime.

UMass outscored Drexel, 3-0 in the fourth quarter and tied the game at 10-10. Will Manny scored his third goal of the game on a feed from Biscardi to even the score. Drexel had the last possession, but a turnover led to a fast break opportunity for UMass. Art Kell's bounce shot at the buzzer would have given UMass the win, but the shot hit the crossbar and the teams went to overtime.

Drexel scored five goals to start the third quarter, including three by Kyle Bergman. The Dragons trailed 5-3 entering the third, but Bergman scored early and Nick Trizano set up Scott Perri to even the score with just over 10 minutes left in the third. The Minutemen had a huge chance to take the lead but Kyle Smith was robbed dead on by Manos. Drexel took than momentum and turned it into three goals in a span of just 2:10. Bergman scored his third of the game at 7:36 and 56 seconds later Trizano picked up his second of the contest. Craig Owen made it a 6-0 run with his fourth of the season to put Drexel ahead 9-5. UMass snapped the streak when Ryan Hantverk fired one past Manos at the 1:41 mark, ending a stretch of more than 16 minutes without a goal for the Minutemen.

Bergman set up Trizano to get the lead back to four but right before the quarter ended. Will Manny scored in the closing second, when he picked up a loose ball after a teammate sent a shot in from midfield to try and beat the buzzer. Manny got possession and did just that as the Minutemen went into the fourth quarter down, 10-7

The Dragons struggled with turnovers in the first half, but still managed to go to intermission down by just a goal. Colin Fleming scored a pair of goals midway through the second quarter to break a 3-3 tie and put UMass ahead, 5-3. Drexel was able to cut the deficit to 5-4 when Kyle Bergman fired a shot on the run from about 12-yards out into the lower far corner. The goal came right after the Minutemen killed off a minor penalty. The Dragons committed 11 turnovers in the first half and failed on five of their 11 clearing attempts, but still managed to stay in the game as Manos made 10 saves in the first half, seven of them in the first quarter.

Drexel started the scoring when All-America candidate Perri set up Ben McIntosh for his fourth goal of the year 4:41 into the game. The lead was short lived as Kyle Smith evened the score. The teams exchanged goals, with Church scoring for Drexel and Mike Wilus for UMass before the Minutemen took a one goal lead. Biscardi fired from down low and went over Manos' shoulder with 46 seconds left to make it 3-2.

Bergman finished with four points, while Perri and Trizano each had three. Manos finished with 18 saves, one short of his career-high.

The Dragons return to Philadelphia for their last home game of the season on Saturday, April 23. Drexel will host Towson on Senior Day at 3 p.m. at Vidas Field.