Dragons Fall to No. 8 Villanova

Tuesday, February 28

Villanova, PA

7:00

Drexel University

#8 Villanova

Kyle Bergman had five points at Villanova

2/28/2012 8:53:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

Villanova, Pa. – Drexel's Kyle Bergman had four assists and five points, but No. 8 Villanova raced out to an early lead and went on to a 14-9 victory against the Dragons in a non-conference game at Villanova Stadium. Drexel, ranked 18^th heading into the contest, fell to 1-2 on the season, with both losses coming to top 10 teams. Villanova is now 3-0.

The Wildcats owned the first quarter and raced out to a 6-0 lead. C.J. Small opened the scoring in the third minute of the game on an unassisted goal that beat Drexel goalkeeper Mark Manos low and to the far side. Three minutes later Will Castertano picked up the first of his two first- quarter goals to give the Wildcats a two-goal cushion. Later in the quarter, the Wildcats scored four more goals in a span of 4:15 to open up a six-goal lead. Villanova outshot Drexel 12-7 in the game's first 15 minutes.

The second quarter was a different story as Drexel's offense finally got going. Kyle Bergman set up Ryan Belka to get the Dragons on the board one minute in. After a Villanova penalty, Bergman set up Glynn for the extra-man goal. The Cats broke Drexel's run with a Matt Bell goal, but the Dragons answered with three goals in a row. Kevin Stockel found Glynn for the junior's second goals of the game. Just 40 second s later, Stockel scored with a man-up with an assist going to Church. The Dragons cut the lead to just two at 7-5 when Church scored after a flurry of fakes on the doorstep with just under three minutes to play. The Wildcats scored to give themselves a three-goal lead with 1:49 to play on a Kevin Cunningham goal.

Villanova had a two-man advantage in the early going of the third quarter and took advantage of it. Kevin O'Neil fed Small who fired a shot from 15 yards out to increase the Cats lead to four goals. After another goal put Villanova up 10-5, Drexel answered right back with a pair of its own. Aaron Prosser scored on a one-timer from Bergman, who was behind the net, for the first goal. Less than a minute later, Bergman picked up his fourth assist of the game, again from behind the cage, this time to Ben McIntosh. The Cats took a little of the momentum back when Max Hart scored in the final two minutes of the third period to give Villanova an 11-7 advantage heading into the final period.

Drexel tried to make a run in the fourth quarter and cut the lead back to three in the opening minute. Prosser drilled a high shot from 20 yards out past Dan Gutierrez. The Dragons had their opportunities to get closer in the early minutes of the fourth quarter, but turned the ball over on back-to back possessions. Nova took advantage when Nick Doherty raced in and beat Manos, putting the Cats up by four once again. Jack Rice sealed the contest when he scored an insurance goal with 6:04 to play. Bergman picked up his fifth point of the game with a goal at the 3:13 mark, but once again Nova answered, this time with another Rice goal making the final 14-9.

The teams each finished with 35 shots. Villanova won the battle on the face-offs, 15-12, and had a 24-15 advantage on the ground balls. Casterano finished with a pair of goals and three assists for Villanova. Gutierriez made 11 saves for Villanova, while Manos turned aside 10 shots. In addition to Bergman's five points, Church picked up three with a goal and two assists. Prosser and Glynn each scored twice and Kevin Stockel finished with a goal and an assist.

The Dragons return home for their third top 10 contest of the season on Saturday. Notre Dame comes to town to play Drexel at Vidas Field at 1 p.m. Notre Dame enters the week ninth in the USILA Poll.