No. 7 Virginia Edges Men's Lacrosse in Overtime, 13-12

Saturday, February 16

Charlottesville, VA

1:00

Drexel University

0-1

#7 Virginia

1-0

Drexel

Virginia

Ben McIntosh had three goals at UVA

No. 7 Virginia Edges Men's Lacrosse in Overtime, 13-12

2/16/2013 3:03:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

Box Score

Virginia's Matt White scored his fourth goal of the game 11 seconds into overtime as Drexel's bid to upset No. 7 Virginia came up just short, 13-12. The Dragons trailed by two goals in the fourth quarter, but rallied to tie the game on two occasions to force the extra period. Ryan Belka had sent it to overtime when he scored with just 10 seconds to play, before White ended the Dragons' bid to knock off the Cavaliers in Klockner Stadium. It was the season-opener for both teams.

Virginia, who came into the game ranked seventh in the USILA Coaches Poll and ninth in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, broke a 9-9 tie with two straight goals in the fourth period. Pat Harbeson set up White with 5:15 left to make it an 11-9 game. The Dragons kept their heads and battled back right away as Deven Thomas won the ensuing face-off. After a few shots, the Dragons trimmed the lead to just a goal when Aaron Prosser scored an unassisted goal. Virginia gained possession after the face-off and had three shots all go wide before turning it over and giving the Dragons a chance to tie. They did just that when freshman Frank Fusco found the net for the second time in the game. His goal, set up by Ben McIntosh, came with 1:23 and evened the score at 11-11. The Drexel euphoria ended just 34 seconds later as Drexel won the draw, but turned it over, and Charlie Steep scored what appeared to be the game-winner. However, the momentum swung right back on the Dragons side after Thomas won the face-off and the Dragons called time. Robert Church came back after the time out and had his shot blocked, but Belka was there to pick up the ground ball and tie the game up at 12-12. In overtime, Mick Parks won the draw for the Cavaliers, Rob Emery picked up the ground ball and Nick O'Reilly fed White for the game-winner. It was the sixth assist of the day for O'Reill, who finished with eight points.

The third quarter went back and forth and appropriately, the teams were even after the period. Matt Cockerton tied the game and Harbeson gave Virginia the lead. However, Harbeson was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and Drexel capitalized. Andrew Vivian tied the score on the man-up as he took a Belka feed and beat the Virginia keeper. The Cavaliers went ahead again when O'Reilly set up White, but after another penalty on UVA, Vivian tied it on the man-up once again. Each team would have one more goal in the period as Ben McIntosh completed the hat trick for Drexel before Bobby Hill tied it at 8-8 with 1:10 left in the third.

The Dragons scored four straight goals after falling behind early to take a 5-4 lead at halftime. Trailing 4-1, the Dragons started their run when Prosser converted a pass from Belka, last season's CAA Rookie of the Year to make it 4-2. At the 5:06 mark of the second quarter, Prosser set up Ben McIntosh for his first goal of the year. The teams went back and forth, but Drexel tied it with just under two minutes to play on a Nick Trizano goal. Trizano, who missed the fall due to injury, wasn't expected to play much, but made his presence felt right away. He also set up the go-ahead goal, scored by Ben McIntosh, with just nine seconds remaining in the half.

Virginia scored the first three goals of the game, to take an early 3-0 lead. Rob Emery gave Virginia a lead just 21 seconds into the contest. Two minutes later, O'Reilly scored the first of his two first quarter goals to put the Cavaliers up by a pair. He made it 3-0 with just over four minutes to play in the first. Drexel finally got on the board for the first time this season in the closing minutes of the first period. Church set up Fusco for his first career goal. Virginia's lead increased to three goals once again in the second when O'Reilly set up White just three minutes into the second period.

Ben McIntosh led the Dragons with his first career hat trick. The Dragons had two goals from four players: Fusco, Trizano, Prosser and Vivian. Drexel had an outstanding effort in the cage by Will Gabrielsen. The freshman, playing in his first collegiate game, made 15 stops. The Cavaliers peppered 52 shots at the newcomer. Drexel answered with 42 shots and were turned aside 15 times by UVA's Dan Marino. The face-offs were even at 14, while Drexel had two extra-man goals and held the high-powered Virginia without an extra-man goal in three chances.

Drexel is off until next Saturday, when it returns to Philadelphia for its home opener. The Dragons host Albany at Vidas Field at 1 p.m. on Feb. 23. It will be the first of two straight home games for the Dragons, who also host Villanova on Feb. 26.