Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/24/10
Two Philly Division I men’s lacrosse teams with high aspirations meet tonight when Villanova hosts Drexel at 7 p.m.
The Dragons, ranked 11th in the nation entering the week, are looking for their seventh straight win. Villanova, a member of the newly-formed Big East Lacrosse Conference, is 4-2 after defeating No. 19 Delaware last weekend.
The Dragons earned their sixth straight win on Sunday with an 11-9 win at Albany. Scott Perri scored three goals and had an assist, while Colin Ambler (Abington) handed out three assists and also scored a goal. Mark Manos made 16 saves in goal.
Perri leads the team with 14 goals and 23 points. Freshman Robert Church has 12 goals, while Kevin Stockel is also in double figures with 11. Ambler has a team-high 11 assists and chips in with seven goals.
Drexel has relied heavily on its goalie, sophomore Mark Manos (Salesianum, DE, West Chester), who yesterday was added to the Tewaaraton Trophy Watch List and is quickly establishing himself as one of the premier goalies in the country. Manos has started all seven games for Drexel and holds a 6.41 goals against average and a 6.59 save percentage.
The Wildcats have wins against Delaware, Penn State, Fairfield and Binghmaton. Their only losses came at Ohio State and at Penn. Freshman Jack Rice has 13 goals to lead the team and six other players have at least five goals. Kevin Cunningham leads the team with 16 assists and 21 points. The Wildcats received votes in this week’s polls.
In Villanova’s win Saturday, Rice and sophomore Matt Bell combined for a total of five goals and one assist in the victory.
Freshman goalie Billy Hurley stepped up in a huge way for the Wildcats in his first career start, making 12 saves in the 11-8 win.
Following the Drexel game tomorrow night, Villanova will travel to upstate New York for a matchup against the Syracuse Orange on Monday, March 19th at 3 p.m.
Drexel is back on the road on Sunday with a game at Lafayette. The Leopards are off to a great start and are ranked eighth in the latest USILA poll.
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