Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/15/13
From Press Release
The Drexel men’s lacrosse team gets its season underway this Saturday when the Dragons will open the year at No. 9 Virginia in Charlottesville. Last season, Virginia, ranked No. 1 in the nation at the time, managed to hold off the Dragons, 9-8, in a game at Vidas Field.
The Dragons finished last season with an 8-8 overall record. They advanced to the Colonial Athletic Association title game by defeating No. 14 Penn State in the CAA Semifinals. Drexel lost to top-ranked UMass in the CAA title game in Amherst.
This year, Drexel was picked to finish third in the CAA Preseason Poll. UMass was the favorite, followed by Penn State. Drexel and Hofstra finished in a tie for third place in the poll.
The Dragons return five of their top seven scorers from a year ago including Robert Church. The senior led the Dragons with 29 goals, 18 assists and 47 points as a junior. Aaron Prosser, who scored 24 goals a year ago, should be one of the league’s top middies. Ryan Belka, last year’s CAA Rookie of the Year, Ben McIntosh and Andrew Vivian also return. Kyle Bergman graduated after recording 100 career points in the midfield and Brendan Glynn will miss the season due to injury.
Drexel will have a lot of new faces in goal and on defense. The Dragons lost two-time All-American goalkeeper Mark Manos (Salesianum School) to graduation. Defensemen Brian Teuber (Penn Charter), Frank Tufano and Dana Wilber also graduated. Wilber was the CAA’s Defensive Player of the Year last season. Matt Dusek is the only returning regular on defense for Coach Voelker’s team.
The Cavaliers lead the all-time series, 11-1. Drexel’s only win against the Cavaliers came during the 2007 season, when UVA was ranked No. 1 in the country. Virginia returns five starters from a team that advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals.
