Men's Lacrosse Moves On with 16-11 NCAA Tournament Win at Penn

Sunday, May 11

Philadelphia, PA

3:00

Drexel University

13-4

#9 Penn (NCAA First Round)

11-4

DREXEL

Penn

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Men's Lacrosse Moves On with 16-11 NCAA Tournament Win at Penn

5/11/2014 5:30:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

Philadelphia – What started as a gorgeous afternoon to showcase Philadelphia lacrosse on a national stage turned into a coming out party for the Drexel men's lacrosse team as the Dragons (13-4) won their first-ever NCAA Tournament game, 16-11, over neighboring and fourth-seeded Penn at Franklin Field. The Dragons utilized a scintillating 7-0 scoring run stretching from late in the second quarter until midway through the third to gain control of the game and win for the ninth straight time. Drexel will now face Denver, the fifth-seed, on Sunday afternoon in the NCAA Quarterfinals. The game will be played at 2:30 at the University of Delaware and can be seen on ESPNU.

The Dragons closed the first half with three goals in a span of 11 seconds to turn a two-goal deficit into a one-goal lead heading to halftime. Penn (11-4) had a two-goal lead at 6-4 with just 1:16 remaining in the first half after Alex Blonsky scored on a man-up goal. However, with just :17 left to play in the half, Jules Raucci got the board and trimmed the lead to one. On the ensuing draw, Nick Saputo won it clean and raced to the cage. His lunging shot from straight on tied it up at 6-6. Saputo wasn't done and showed the national television audience why he is an All-American candidate. The junior again won the draw and again raced towards the net and scored, this time with just six ticks remaining on the clock. Saputo's third goal of the game stunned the crowd of 2,852 and sent Drexel (13-4) into intermission up 7-6. The Dragons would not trail again.

The Dragons scored the first four goals of the second half and at one point scored 10 of 11 to take a commanding 14-7 lead. Jared Boudreau fired a low shot from the left side into the cage at the 11:41 mark. Raucci added his second of the game 34 seconds later on an overhand shot from about 10 yards away. On Drexel's next possession, Raucci set up Boudreau for his second goal of the half, again coming from the left side. The Dragons completed the 7-0 run when Chris Frederick, making a rare appearance due to an injury, took a pass from Nick Trizano and scored from in tight, putting Drexel ahead, 11-6. Penn stopped the run briefly when Nick Doctor tallied an unassisted goal at the 7:30 mark. That would be the final goal of the third quarter, but Drexel put the game away in the first four minutes of the final frame.

Ben McIntosh, who was held without a point for the first three quarters, changed that in a hurry. The senior All-American candidate scored two goals in a span of :40 to start the fourth. Junior Ryan Belka then gave Drexel a seven-goal lead after spinning by a Quaker defender and scoring from straight on with 11:13 to play. The Quakers would score the next three goals over the next seven minutes to make it 14-10. However, the Dragons sealed the win with two open-net goals while Penn was pressing in the final two minutes. Trizano got the first and McIntosh scored the next. The goal by McIntosh was his 46^th of the year, breaking the school single-season record set by three players at 45. The Quakers added one last goal when Doktor had his third of the game in the final minute.

McIntosh and Saputo each had hat tricks for the Dragons. Saputo's three goals were a career-high, but he made his mark in this game at the center of the field. He won 21 of his 30 face-offs and had 12 ground balls. Boudreau, Belka, Trizano and Raucci finished with two goals for Drexel, while Hank Brown and Frederick each had one. It was Brown's second of the year and the first of the season for Frederick.

Will Gabrielsen came up big in the cage for Drexel. Gabrielsen turned aside 12 shots, including five in the opening quarter when Penn fired 17 shots at the sophomore. He made a number of stops from close in as Penn was trying to get back in the game.

Penn outshot its University City neighbors, 47-45, but Drexel won 11 more face-offs and had 40 ground balls to Penn's 31. The Dragons turned the ball over 19 times, but were still able to win and advance. The Quakers were led by Doktor's four points. Drew Belinksy and Joe McCallion each had a goal and an assist. Brian Feeney came up with nine stops in the cage for Penn and John Lopes had one.