Drexel University
#7 Notre Dame
No. 7 Notre Dame Tops No. 11 Drexel in South Bend, 13-6
3/25/2008 5:50:31 PM | Men's Lacrosse
South Bend, Ind. - Drexel dropped a 13-6 decision at Moose Krause Stadium to Notre Dame in the Dragons' final non-conference game of the season. The loss snapped Drexel's seven-game winning streak and extended Notre Dame's home win streak to 16 games.
Drexel (7-2) jumped ahead with the first goal of the game as Andrew Chapman scored with 9:36 remaining in the first quarter. That marked just the third time this season that the Fighting Irish have surrendered a first-quarter goal. The Irish answered just 21 seconds later when Grant Krebs took a pass from Wharton and put it into the back of the net. Ryan Hoff and Dan Gibson gave Notre Dame a 3-1 lead by the 11:17 mark of the second quarter and the Irish never trailed again. Brian Neary cut the lead to 3-2, but Notre Dame finished the half with three straight goals to take a 6-2 lead at the break. Bruce Bickford kept the Dragons in the game by making 13 saves in the first half. He finished with a season-high 20 saves. The senior entered the game second in the nation in save percentage.
Notre Dame's lead swelled to 9-5 before the Dragons countered with three straight goals. Scott Perri scored with 6:09 left in the third period to make it 9-3. Greg Casey deposited consecutive man-up goals to trim the Notre Dame lead to four (9-5) with 3:15 remaining in the third. The Irish responded as a Podgajny goal made it 10-5 after three quarters of play. Notre Dame would go up by six when Wharton collected his third goal of the afternoon.
Notre Dame held a 44-21 advantage in shots and won 13-of-22 faceoffs led by senior Taylor Clagett who went 12-for-20 in the X. Notre Dame entered the game leading the nation in face-off percentage. ND goalie Joey Kemp notched the win by making nine saves.
