Lacrosse (M)
PHILADELPHIA - The Drexel men's lacrosse team got its first win of 2013 in memorable fashion on Saturday afternoon, overcoming a seven-goal deficit to defeat No. 16 Albany, 20-19. The game was the Dragons' home opener, and saw them fight back from a 7-1 hole after the first quarter. Drexel was able to grab the lead by the end of the third quarter, and hung on as four late Albany scores were not enough to get the Great Danes back even.
Ben McIntosh and Nick Trizano had four goals apiece for the Dragons (1-1). Each also had two assists in the game, the highest scoring for a Drexel men's lacrosse team since a 21-11 win over Saint Joseph's on April 28, 1998. Aaron Prosser had three goals and three assists including the eventual game winning goal with 42 seconds to play. Ryan Belka added a hat trick and two assists and Frank Fusco had three goals.
Philadelphia – Drexel scored the last three goals of the game to erase a two-goal fourth quarter deficit and defeated St. John's, 10-9, in a non-conference game at Vidas Field. Robert Church scored three goals and had three assists as the Dragons evened their record at 7-7.
Drexel fell behind 9-7 in the fourth quarter after squandering a three-goal lead early in the game. St. John's Ryan Fitzgerald broke the 7-7 tie with an extra-man goal with 10:31 to play in the game. The Red Storm won the face-off and increased its lead when Terrence Leach set up Harry Kutner for his fourth score of the contest at the 9:58 mark. The Dragons responded right away as senior Kyle Bergman, playing in his final home game, scored an unassisted goal with 9:01 left to play. The Dragons wasted little time and tied the game less than a minute later with an Aaron Prosser goal. Drexel won the ensuing face-off, and in the scramble for the loose ball in the Red Storm's end, Church came up with the ball and set up Brendan Glynn, who went in one on one with St. John's goalkeeper Jeff Lowman. Glynn took advantage of the opportunity and scored what proved to be the game winner with 7:54 left in the game. It was Glynn's 20th goal of the season. The Red Storm would have its opportunities in the final seven minutes, but Mark Manos came up with three saves down the stretch. Drexel's defense also came up big as Dana Wilber forced a turnover with under two minutes to play and Matt Dusek picked up the ground ball to gain possession. The Dragons then played keep away in the final minute, aided by a St. John's penalty with 33 seconds left.
St. John's (7-6) trailed 7-5 midway through the third period after a pair of Church goals broke a 5-5 tie. The junior put Drexel ahead at the 9:26 mark of the quarter when he fired home a shot after a feed from Ben McIntosh. Just 47 seconds later, Church scored his 24th of the season. The Red Storm answered back with four straight goals, two in the third and two more to start the fourth quarters. Ryan Fitzgerald started the Red Storm rally with the first of his two goals. In the final minute of the quarter, Kevin Cernuto tied in with an unassisted goal.
The Dragons played an inspired first quarter and opened up a 4-1 lead. Bergman, Glynn, McIntosh and Church scored for the Dragons, while Cernuto had the only Red Storm tally. Drexel had 12 of its 32 shots in the first quarter and forced five Red Storm turnovers. The second quarter went the other way as St. John's controlled play and outshot Drexel, 10-3. Kutner scored two goals in the second period as the Red Storm cut the deficit to 4-3. Kieran McArdle opened the third quarter with a goal just 18 seconds in as St. John's capitalized on a man-up opportunity to tie it at 4-4. Drexel's Andrew Vivian and Kutner exchanged goals to make it 5-5 before Church scored back-to-back goals.
The Red Storm outshot Drexel, 35-32, and had three more ground balls than the Dragons. Each team committed 13 turnovers. Manos made 13 saves in his final home game for Drexel. Lowman had 12 saves, including six in the third quarter. Deven Thomas won 10 of 17 face-offs for the Dragons and had a team-high six ground balls.
The game marked the final home appearance for seniors Bergman, Drew Collins, Max Crockett, Chris Farquhar, Manos, Kevin Stockel, Brian Teuber, Frank Tufano, and Wilber.
The Dragons open the Colonial Athletic Association Championships on Wednesday night. Drexel will play at Penn State in the CAA semifinals. The winner will face UMass or Towson for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
PHILADELPHIA - The Drexel men's lacrosse team fell to No. 8 Notre Dame on Saturday at Vidas Field, 6-5. The Dragons (1-3) had the ball and a man-up opportunity with just over a minute to play in the fourth quarter, but could not get off a shot as an intense, rugged defensive game closed with Notre Dame swarming the Drexel offense as it closed in on the net. Aaron Prosser scored twice for Drexel, which took an early 2-0 lead.
The Dragons led 2-1 at the half before a four-goal third quarter by the Irish (2-1) gave Notre Dame control of the game. Drexel would knot the game at five momentarily in the fourth quarter, but could not take another lead.
Drexel lit up the scoreboard first less than two minutes into the game. Playing a man up thanks to a one-minute slashing penalty by Notre Dame's Conor Doyle, Drexel methodically worked the ball around the cage to open the man-up opportunity before Brendan Glynn found Ben McIntosh in front to rip in the game's first score. It was the first of two assists for Glynn on the day, and the second goal of the season for McIntosh.
Deven Thomas had a good start to the day in the faceoff circle, going up against Notre Dame's Liam O'Connor, one of the better faceoff men in the country. Thomas wound up winning nine of 15 faceoffs on the afternoon, including the first two of the day. The second, following McIntosh's goal, would eventually lead to the Dragons taking a 2-0 lead with 7:00 to play in the first quarter, when Ryan Belka served up Clifton Simeon for his first goal of the season.
Notre Dame would notch the only goal of the second quarter, getting on the board with 12:23 to play in the first half. The teams could not get anything to find the back of the net the rest of the half.
The Irish put together the only scoring flurry of the afternoon in the third quarter, when they scored three straight goals to start the period and take a 4-2 lead. Prosser got Drexel back on the board with 3:33 to go in the third, pulling Drexel back within a goal as Kevin Stockel fed him out front.
After Tyler Kimball put Notre Dame back up by two late in the third, Drexel opened the fourth quarter with two goals to even the score at five. Prosser got the first of those goals with 13:09 to play in the fourth, his second of the day off Brendan Glynn's second assist. Minutes later, Robert Church evened things up off a feed from behind the net by Kyle Bergman.
Less than ninety seconds later, Notre Dame regained the lead when Sean Rogers fired just over Drexel goalie Mark Manos' shoulder, hitting the post and getting a fortunate bounce into the net. The Dragons had several breaks go against them on Saturday afternoon, as they hit three posts on their offensive end only to see the deciding goal hit a post and bounce the Irish's way late.
Manos finished with five saves, including several point-blank, impressive stops in holding Notre Dame to just one score in the first half.
Thomas won control back for Drexel after the Dragons fell behind, and with just over a minute to play, Drexel went up a man when Devon Dobson was called for pushing, a 30-second penalty. They worked the ball around, but despite the extra man could not find an opening in the stingy Notre Dame defense. With the penalty over and time winding down, Drexel forced the action in close to the net, but lost control of the ball as the Irish scooped it up and preserved the victory.
The Dragons will return to the field on Tuesday, when they visit crosstown rival Saint Joseph's at 4:00 p.m.
ALBANY, N.Y. - The Drexel men's lacrosse team earned its first victory of the season on Saturday, pulling away late for a 13-8 triumph at Albany. Robert Church led the team with five goals, including the eventual game-winner late in the third quarter. The Dragons scored four of the game's final five goals to close out what had been a tight contest for much of the way.
Church got things started for Drexel with 11:53 remaining in the first half. On the attack, Kyle Bergman found Church out front to rip home the Dragons' first goal of the game. Bergman himself would make it 2-0 Drexel nearly five minutes later with his unassisted score.
After grabbing that early 2-0 advantage, the Dragons allowed the host Great Danes to score four of the next five goals as Albany took a brief 4-3 lead when Ty Thompson tallied his first of two scores with 10:03 to play in the second quarter. Less than two minutes later, it was Church who had the answer for the Dragons, notching his second goal of the day with 8:16 to go before halftime. Once again, Bergman followed that up with a score to regain the lead for the Dragons.
Albany evened things up again with Thompson's second goal, but Church's third goal, with 1:49 remaining in the second half, gave Drexel a lead it would never relinquish. Brendan Glynn found Church this time, putting the Dragons back on top 6-5. Glynn got on the board himself just before half, converting a man-up opportunity with 21 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
Drexel was 1-for-4 on extra-man opportunities against Albany, after going 1-for-1 in the season opener against top-ranked Virginia. However, the Dragons have done very well on penalty kill chances in the early going this year. After killing off the Cavaliers' only man-up chance last Saturday, the Dragons shut down all four of the Great Danes' chances in this contest. In fact, Bergman put the icing on the cake for Drexel with a shorthanded goal with 53 ticks remaining in the fourth quarter.
Before it got to that, though, the Dragons had to hold off a feisty Albany squad. Taking a 7-5 lead into the half, the Dragons scored the first goal of the second half when Brian Teuber, a senior defenseman, ventured upfield and slammed in his first collegiate goal. From there, though, the Danes got two straight scores from Joe Resetarits and were within a goal at 8-7 with 4:47 to play in the third quarter.
With the Great Danes coming on strong, the Dragons stepped up. Mark Manos, who finished with 14 saves, had 10 of those after halftime and allowed just one goal over the game's final 19:47. After gaining possession following Albany's seventh goal, the Dragons once again worked the ball to Church, who weaved his way inside and stopped the brief Albany scoring run with his fourth goal of the game, making it 9-7 Dragons with 1:34 to play in the third.
Going to the fourth quarter, Drexel wasted little time eliminating any suspense from the game's final 15 minutes. Glynn took a Kevin Stockel pass and found the back of the net with 9:01 to play, making it 10-7 Drexel. The way Manos was playing, that would be more than enough cushion for the Dragons, but Bergman and Church added backbreaking scores with 5:36 and 3:38 remaining, respectively. Albany finally solved the stone wall that was Manos with 2:49 to play, ending a 16:58 scoreless spell, but the Danes had already been done in. Bergman's fourth goal finished the scoring with less than a minute to play.
Drexel will return to the field on Tuesday, when they visit Philly rival Villanova. Face off is set for 7:00 p.m.
PHILADELPHIA - Five years to the day after the Drexel men's lacrosse team opened its season by going into Charlottesville and knocking off No. 1 Virginia, the Dragons looked poised for a similar start to their year in 2012. Drexel went shot-for-shot with the defending national champions in each team's season opener in front of 2,331 at Vidas Field on Saturday afternoon, but fell just short as the Cavaliers escaped with a 9-8 defeat of the Dragons.
Brendan Glynn and Nick Trizano scored twice for the Dragons, who have not won a season opener since that 11-10 triumph over Virginia in 2007. Drexel led Saturday's game by a goal midway through the fourth quarter before Virginia scored twice to grab the win.
The Cavaliers got the scoring started early, scoring less than 3:30 into the game and making it 2-1 with 3:18 remaining in the first quarter. Deven Thomas won the ensuing faceoff, however, and streaked down the middle of the field, finding an open Glynn for an equalizing goal just six seconds later.
In the second quarter, the Dragons would build a two-goal lead with strong defense and goals from Trizano and Ryan Belka. Virginia looked out of sorts in the face of the Drexel defense, committing several sloppy turnovers and going without a goal for nearly an entire quarter of game time. That drought ended with 4:37 to play in the half, when Matt White pulled the Cavaliers back within a goal at 4-3. The score would remain that way heading into the intermission.
Drexel outshot Virginia 23-11 in the first half, and 41-24 overall. Goalkeeper Mark Manos stopped four of the seven shots Virginia put on goal in the first half. He would finish with five saves overall, while Virginia keeper Rob Fortunato had 11 saves on the day including five in the first half.
The Cavaliers stormed out of the gates to open the second half, scoring twice in the first four minutes of the third quarter to regain a 5-4 lead. Robert Church stopped that run with his game-tying goal with 10:30 to play in the quarter, an unassisted look at the net. But Virginia answered with two more scores, both by Owen Van Arsdale as they took a 7-5 lead.
With 2:16 to play in the third quarter and Drexel nearing the end of a man-up opportunity brought on by a Chris Clements crosschecking penalty, Kevin Stockel received a pass from behind the net and slammed it home, bringing the Dragons back within a goal. Then, with 33 seconds remaining in the frame, Matt Dusek created a turnover by the Cavaliers, picked up by Andrew Collins. He charged the ball upfield and found Glynn open to the right of the net, who ripped his second goal of the game with just three ticks remaining in the period.
The score was tied headed into the fourth quarter. Virginia won the opening faceoff, but a save by Manos created a Drexel offensive opportunity. After two shots went wide, Trizano got his second goal with 10:08 remaining, giving the Dragons an 8-7 lead.
Just over two minutes later, Bobby Hill knotted things back up with a score off a feed from Scott McWilliams. Drexel won the faceoff and would eventually get a good look straight on from Aaron Prosser, but the shot was blocked and Virginia picked it up. A minute later, Rob Emery scored what would be the game-winner off a pass from Colin Briggs.
Another Virginia turnover with 2:12 to play gave the Dragons one last chance, but shots by Kyle Bergman and Stockel went wide, the last coming with just under a minute to play. Virginia had a man closest to the second shot as it went out of bounds, and regained possession with 54 seconds remaining. They managed to run out the clock from there and preserve the victory.
Drexel will now play its next two games on the road, starting with a visit to Albany next Saturday at 1:00 p.m. They will next be at home on March 3, when they take on No. 9 Notre Dame at 1:00 p.m.
Philadelphia - Drexel senior lacrosse player Frank Tufano (Hauppauge, N.Y./Hauppauge) has been named a Preseason Third Team All-American by Inside Lacrosse. Tufano, a defenseman, was one of three Drexel players named to the Preseason All-American Team. Mark Manos (West Chester, Pa./Salesianum) and Robert Church (Coquitlam, B.C./Charles Best) were named Honorable Mentions.
Tufano was a First Team All-CAA selection the last two seasons. He was selected as a defenseman last year after moving from long pole. Tufano led the team in caused turnovers for the last two years and led the club with 48 ground balls in 2011.
PHILADELPHIA - Danielle Brady (Women's Rowing) and Jared Sabre (Men's Track) have been named Saint Joseph's Outstanding Senior Student-Athletes and will each receive the Class of 1950 award at the University's Commencement on May 14.
A three-time Atlantic 10 champion, Brady has won the top honors in both the Varsity 8 and Quad events over her career. A three-time silver medalist at the conference meet, the co-captain helped SJU to its first-ever A-10 title this April, earning All-Conference First Team accolades along the way. A member of just the SJU crew that participated in the 2010 Henley Royal Regatta, she has earned A-10 All-Academic Team honors, and has been a member of both the Commissioner's Honor Roll and the SJU Athletic Director's Honor Roll.
Philadelphia – Scott Perri scored five goals and handed out two assists as Drexel stayed alive in its quest for a berth in the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament with a 13-9 victory over Towson. The Dragons broke open a close game with six third quarter goals and improved to 7-6 overall and 3-3 in the CAA.
Towson controlled the play in the first quarter, outshooting the Dragons, 18-4, in the first 15 minutes, but led just 2-1. Mark Manos kept the Dragons in the game, making seven saves in the early going. Perri scored on the man-up just 1:34 into the game, but that was all the scoring the Dragons had in the first. Pat Britton scored a goal in the fourth minute of the game and added another with :57 seconds to play in the quarter to put the Tigers ahead.
The Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse team fell to 19th-ranked Penn, 13-5, on Wednesday evening at Finnesey Field. Sophomore Ian Correia notched two goals for the Hawks.
Penn got on the board first, and after an SJU goal by Correia, scored three more in the last 3:35 to take a 4-1 lead at the end of the first quarter.
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.
