Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/30/13
From Press Release
Drexel scored three times in a span of 25 seconds in the fourth quarter and came from behind to defeat Delaware, 11-10, at Vidas Field. The 14th-ranked Dragons, who trailed by as many as five goals in the second half, scored six fourth-quarter goals to stun the Blue Hens and win their fourth straight game.
The Dragons (8-2, 3-0 CAA) were down 9-6 with 10:32 to play after a Nick Diachenko goal for the Hens (2-8, 0-3 CAA). The Dragons started a 5-0 run just 25 seconds later when Robert Church scored an unassisted goal, his 21st of the season.
Drexel got the crowd back in the game when it trimmed the lead to one with 6:32 remaining. Aaron Prosser fed Ryan Belka, who fired a shot from the perimeter past Delaware keeper Conor Peaks. Belka and Prosser again hooked up on a goal, this time Belka set up Prosser, to tie the score at 9-9 with just 2:38 left.
On the ensuing face-off, Drexel’s Nick Saputo, who struggled in the first half, won the face-off cleanly and sprinted towards the Delaware cage. He fired a shot low past the Blue Hens keeper to put Drexel ahead for the first time since early in the first quarter.
Twenty seconds later, Drexel got an insurance goal. Frank Fusco had the ball in the corner behind the net and lofted a pass to a streaking Ben McIntosh. The junior went in alone and gave Drexel an 11-9 advantage with 2:13 on the clock.
The Dragons would need that as Delaware wasted little time in trying to mount a comeback of its own. Diachenko scored his second of the quarter with less than two minutes to play, making it an 11-10 game.
The Hens had one last chance to tie when they got possession in the Drexel end and called time with nine seconds remaining. However, Delaware was unable to get a shot on goal after moving the ball around and having a last ditch effort from outside the box go high as time expired.
In what seems to be a regular occurrence, Drexel found itself down by five goals early in the third quarter. Eric Smith set up Tom Holland just over a minute into the third quarter as the Hens took a 7-2 lead.
The Dragons responded with three scores as they started to get some offense going. Andrew Vivian scored on the man-up and Frank Fusco and T. J. Foley also scored as Drexel got back into the game making it 7-5. The Hens snapped the run when Dan Sebastiani’s unassisted tally pushed the lead back to three goals.
Delaware dominated possession in the first half. Tyler Barbarich (Twist Lacrosse) won nine of the 10 face-offs in the first half. Drexel got on the board first after a Blue Hen turnover. Church set up Ben McIntosh to give the Dragons their only lead of the half.
It was the only goal for Drexel in the opening 15 minutes as Delaware scored the next three goals to take a 3-1 lead. Connor Frisina (Conestoga) tied it up with 8:07 left in the first. The teams stayed tied at 1-1 until the final two minutes when the Blue Hens scored twice. Alex Martinelli (Moorestown) put the Hens up by a goal and then with 7.1 seconds left, Holland fed Danny Keane, who beat Drexel keeper Cal Winkelman.
Drexel cut the lead to a goal when Nick Trizano fired a shot from about 15 yards out in the opening minute of the second quarter, but the Hens owned possession for the majority of the second period. Frisina put Delaware ahead by two with 11:41 remaining in the half.
Less than a minute later Ian Robertson (Duke’s LC) gave Delaware a 5-2 lead. Robertson was at it again just two minutes later, scoring off a pass from Eric Smith and Delaware took a four-goal lead into halftime. The Hens outshot Drexel 19-12 in the half.
Prosser led the Dragons with four points, including three assists. Church, Belka and McIntosh each had three points. Five Delaware players finished with two points. Despite the Hens dominating the stats in the first half, Drexel ended up outshooting Delaware, 40-32.
Delaware won 15 of the 25 face-offs, but in the final period Saputo won seven of nine face-offs. Winkelman turned aside six shots, while Peaks made nine saves for the Hens.
