Providence Edges Drexel in Overtime, 9-8

Sunday, March 26

Providence, R.I.

1 p.m.

Drexel University

3-5

Providence

6-3

Drexel

Providence

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

3/26/2017 2:57:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

Providence, R.I. - Providence's Nick Hatzipetrakos scored the game-winning goal with 1:37 to go in overtime to lead the Friars past Drexel, 9-8, at Chapey Field and Anderson Stadium. The Dragons (3-5) saw their three-game winning streak come to an end, while Providence is now 6-3. Marshal King led the Dragons with his second career hat trick and four points.

Hatzipetrakos forced a Drexel turnover in the Dragons' end and picked up the ground ball. He raced towards the cage and fired a shot from the left side over Jimmy Joe Granito with 1:37 left in the overtime period. Turnovers plagued the Dragons' throughout the day, as they turned the ball over 19 times. Granito, who came up with two big saves in overtime, made 14 saves in a losing cause.

The game was close the whole way as neither team led by more than two at any point in the contest. It was tied on six occasions, the last coming with 2:23 to go in regulation when PC's Austin Goltz came from behind the net and when high over Granito's shoulder to even it at eight. Drexel had taken the lead with 5:52 to play. There was a loose ball near the cage that Marshal King was able to gather up. He found Will Manganiello right in front and the junior beat Tate Boyce to give Drexel the 8-7 advantage.

Both goalkeepers came up big in the final quarter. Granito made two saves at point-blank range with about four minutes to go. Boyce also had two saves in the final two minutes with the score tied. The first, with 1:47 to play, came on Reid Bowering. The freshman split a double team and as he was falling in front had a chance to give Drexel the lead, but Boyce made a kick save, keeping the score tied at 8-8. In the final 10 seconds, Boyce thwarted Cole Shafer, forcing the extra period.

The teams exchanged the first four goals of the game, with Providence getting on the board just 20 seconds in. The Friars' Austin Yezarski converted on an early Drexel turnover for his first of the year, but Joe Rainoldi answered two minutes later to even the score. Austin Goltz and Drexel's Robert Frazee swapped scores before the Friars scored the next two to take a 4-2 lead. Keenan Assaraf dodged in on the left wing and scored from 10 yards out and with 4:08 to go in the first, Josh Keller beat Jimmy Joe Granito on the short side from the right side. The Dragons were able to get to within a goal by the end of the first. Reid Bowering made a move from the goal line extended and got to the crease where he scored his 13^th of the season.

The Friars' lead went back to two goals in the second when Ryan Nawrocki made a nice feed from the left wing to Keenan Assaraf, who was on the right side, five yards away, for a Providence goal. The Dragons were able to get to get the lead down to one, when Bowering fed a cutting King, who went top corner from the top of the crease, making it 5-4.

The teams went into the fourth quarter tied at 7-7 after an exciting third period, which featured five goals. The Dragons tied it up a 5-5 when Bowering found King in front, and the sophomore fired a behind-the-back shot past Boyce. Less than a minute after that, Drexel's Will Stabbert was called for a two-minute penalty after a collision in the Drexel end, which shook up Stabbert. The Friars scored to take the lead on the man-up when Damon Currie scored at 11:08. It was an unreleaseable penalty, so the Friars still had 1:10 remaining on the man-up. The Dragons came up with a stop and a Providence player slashed a Dragon in the defensive end. Drexel cleared the ball and with the flag still on the field, Jake O'Donnell got to the cage and scored a shorthanded goal. After the face-off, Drexel took its first lead of the game when King scored his third, this time on the man-up, to make it 7-6. That lead lasted less than a minute, as Joseph McHale evened the score for Providence at the 8:36 mark of the third. That would be the last goal for either team until late in the fourth quarter.

The Friars outshot Drexel, 39-32, and won 13 of the 19 face-offs in the game. Both keepers made 14 saves. King was the only Dragon with a multiple-goal game. Bowering had a goal and two assists, while Frazee finished with two points. Assaraf and Goltz each scored a pair of goals for the Friars.

The Dragons head home to begin Colonial Athletic Association play. Drexel will open the conference season against Towson on April 1 at Vidas Field. The teams will face-off at 4 p.m.