Men's Lacrosse Downed By Albany in the Snow, 15-8

Saturday, February 21

Vidas Field

12:00

Drexel University

0-2

#13 Albany

1-0

ALBANY

Drexel

Men's Lacrosse Downed By Albany in the Snow, 15-8

2/21/2015 4:03:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

Philadelphia, Pa. – The 13^th ranked Albany Great Danes came to Philadelphia and defeated the 19^th-ranked Drexel Dragons, 15-8at Vidas Field. Drexel fell to 0-2 on the season with two losses to top 20 teams. It was the opener for the Great Danes.

Cole Shafer had three goals to lead the Dragons. He added an assist for a team-best four points. Seth Oakes scored four times and Connor Fields added three goals and three assists for the Great Danes, who never trailed after a brief 1-0 deficit early in the contest.

The game was played in front of 731 fans at a snowy Vidas Field, where conditions forced the grounds crew to blow snow off the field three separate times.

Ryan Belka got the Dragons on the board just 1:20 into the game. The senior scored an extra man goal after Albany was called for an offside violation. The lead was short lived as the Great Danes scored the next three goals to take a 3-1 lead. Lyle Thompson started the scoring with an unassisted goal at the 10:50 mark. The Danes took their first lead 16 seconds later when John Maloney set up Jake Cullen. Albany's three-goal run concluded with a Seth Oakes goal with 5:57 to go in the opening quarter.

Albany's Oaks scored on a behind the back shot set up from Thompson to start the second quarter. The Dragons answered on a Mason Pynn dodge with 10:51 remaining until intermission. Unfortunately for the hosts, that would be the last Drexel goal of the half. The Danes scored three straight to go to intermission ahead, 7-3. Jake Cullen started the run with an extra man goal. Justin Reh and Connor Fields also scored. Fields goal came with just 26 ticks remaining on the clock. The Dragons outshot the Great Danes, 27-22, in the first half, but came away with just three goals. Albany goalie Blaze Riordan had a big first half, making nine saves in the cage. The Great Danes also controlled possession, winning nine of the 13 first half draws.

Albany opened the third quarter like they ended the first half. The Danes scored three times in a span of three minutes to take a commanding 10-3 lead. Drexel finally broke the Danes' 6-0 run when Cole Shafer scored on the man-up midway through the third period. The Dragons were held without a goal for a span of 17:56 before Shafer's goal. Less than two minutes later, Shafer scored again to give the Dragons life, down 10-5 with five minutes to go in the third. Drexel's momentum was short lived, as the Dragons committed a penalty and Oakes capitalized on the man-up for his third goal of the game. A few minutes later Oakes was at it again, giving the Danes a 12-5 lead with 18 seconds to go in the third.

Connor Fields notched his third goal of the afternoon to open the scoring in the fourth quarter and put the Danes up by eight, 13-5. Belka followed just over a minute later, taking a feed from Michael Kay and beating Albany goalkeeper Blaze Riorden. After a Bennett Drake score, Cole Shafer beat Riorden high to the far post from the left side, putting the Dragons down seven with 5:07 to play. Drexel got another score from Frank Fusco just 38 seconds later, this one assisted by Robert Frazee. That would be all the Dragons could muster, however, as the Great Danes got the road victory.

Drexel is back in action on Tuesday afternoon. The Dragons host Villanova at 3 p.m. The game was scheduled for Tuesday night but was moved due to weather.