Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/6/26
From Press Release
Owen Knight (Radnor) and Alec Tulio (Springside Chestnut Hill Academy) each scored the first hat tricks of their career on Friday afternoon to help host Drexel defeat Delaware in its season opener, 11-1, at Vidas Field.
Brendan Donnelly (Germantown Academy) started in the cage for Drexel and tied a career-high 14 saves in the effort. Trent Layton (Academy of the New Church) won a career-high 11 face offs to help Drexel finish with a 12-4 edge.
It is the first time Drexel has defeated Delaware since 2021. It is also the first time that the Dragons defeated the Blue Hens by 10 or more points since 1973.
Drexel outshot Delaware, 37-29. The biggest quarter advantage came in the third frame, when Drexel held Delaware to just four shots and took 12.
Drexel was near perfect on clear attempts, bringing the ball cleanly over midfield 28 of the 29 opportunities.
The Dragons took the lead three minutes into the game and never looked back. Witt Crawford received a pass from Gavin Kelly to score the first goal of the season. The Dragons then finished the quarter with a pair of tallies. Tulio scored his first goal of the game with just under two minutes remaining. A minute later, Knight pushed Drexel’s lead to three.
The Dragons added two goals to the lead in the second quarter to bring a five-goal lead to the second half. Knight scored his second goal with 5:46 remaining in the frame. Eight seconds later, Layton won a face off and took the ball to the other end before assisting on Crawford’s second goal.
The third quarter was all Drexel. Four minutes into the frame, Liam Luzza assisted on a Tulio goal to put Drexel ahead, 6-0. Seconds later, Layton won a face off and took it to the house to score his first goal of the season. With 4:36 remaining in the quarter, Tulio and Knight connected on Drexel’s eighth goal of the game, completing Knight’s hat trick.
Drexel outscored Delaware 3-1 in the final quarter. Caden Zadell pushed the lead to nine with a tally at the 11:27 mark. Hooley and Tulio pushed Drexel’s lead to double digits with 10:34 remaining on an extra man opportunity. That goal marked Tulio’s third of the game. Delaware was finally able to beat the Drexel defense and Donnelly with 6:48 remaining in the quarter. But that would be all the Blue Hens could score, Zadell and Drexel pushed the lead back to double digits with a tally with one minute left to play.
