Drexel Falls at UMass, 12-9

Saturday, April 18

Amherst, Mass.

4:00

Drexel University

6-7, 2-2CAA

UMass

4-8, 2-2CAA

Drexel

Massachusetts

Photo by: Ryan Samson

4/18/2015 5:39:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

Amherst, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts scored five straight goals to break open a tie game and defeat Drexel, 12-9, at Garber Field. Both teams are now tied with Hofstra for third place at 2-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association. The three teams are tied for the final two playoff spots with one game to play.

Drexel's Ryan Belka had another big offensive game for the Dragons. The senior scored four times and handed out an assist in a losing cause. Belka moved into the top 10 in goals, assists and total points at the school.

With the score tied at 7-7, Dan Muller scored two straight goals to put the Minutemen ahead, 9-7. UMass then scored a timely goal with just four seconds to play when Grant Whiteway beat Jimmy Joe Granito giving the home team a three-goal cushion heading into the final period.

UMass increased its lead to five as it held Drexel without a goal during the run until the final minutes. Nick Mariano set up Brendan Hegarty for his third goal of the game with 9:44 to play and Gianni Bianchin added another with just under seven to go to make it 12-7. The Dragons tried to make a late run as they scored two quick goals. The first came at the 3:59 mark when Robert Frazee scored an unassisted goal from the left side. Nick Saputo won the ensuing draw for Drexel, and 35 seconds later Michael Kay set up Belka, who netted his fourth goal of the contest, giving the Dragons life with the score 12-9. However, that was the last time Drexel would score as the Minutemen picked up the key league win.

Drexel had trailed 7-4 early in the second half, but got right back into the game with three goals in less than two minutes. After Hegarty's second of the game gave UMass the three-goal lead, Saputo won the draw clean and in traffic, fed Markell Nelson with a behind the back pass. The long pole then deposited a shot in the lower left corner cutting the lead to two. Drexel again got the possession and UMass was penalized giving Drexel a man-up opportunity. The Dragons converted when Belka set up Frazee, trimming the deficit to just one. Forty second later it was even as Cole Shafer fed Belka from behind the net, and the All-American scored again evening the contest at 7-7.

UMass took its biggest lead of the first half early in the second quarter. Brendan Schroeder scored an unassisted goal after Drexel turned it over on a conduct violation, making it 5-2. The score stayed that way for the next five minutes until Drexel was able to score. Mason Pynn dumped a pass down to Frazee on the right side. The southpaw then beat the UMass keeper, cutting the deficit to 5-3 at the 9:04 mark. The score would remain that way as the teams went to intermission with UMass ahead by two.

The Minutemen got off to a quick start in the game and almost immediately had a two-goal lead. UMass won the opening draw and just 12 seconds in, Ryan Izzo put the Minutemen on the board. Just a few minutes later, UMass was at it again, this time when Hegarty went high for a goal from in close. Drexel answered with a pair of Belka goals. Belka's first goal was unassisted and his second was set up by Jules Raucci. The second goal was the 93^rd of Belka's career, putting him into sole possession of 10^th place on Drexel's career scoring list. However, the Minutemen answered with two goals of their own to take a 4-2 lead after one quarter.

Hegarty and Muller each had hat tricks for UMass. Bianchin also had three points. Zach Oliveri made 14 stops in the cage, including five in the fourth quarter. Granito had 10 stops for DU. The Dragons' Saputo won 15 of 24 draws and had a game-high 12 ground balls. Drexel outshot UMass, 36-33, and had eight more ground balls.

The Dragons play their final regular-season game on Saturday in Philadelphia. It will be Senior Day at Vidas Field as Towson comes to town for a 1 p.m. face-off.