Dragons Edged by No. 14 Towson, 8-7

Saturday, April 1

Vidas Field

4 p.m.

Drexel University

3-6, 0-1CAA

#14 Towson

4-4, 1-0CAA

Towson

Drexel

4/1/2017 5:47:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

Philadelphia –Towson's Tyler Young scored what proved to be the game-winning goal midway through the fourth quarter and the 14th-ranked Towson Tigers held on to defeat Drexel, 8-7, in a tightly-contested Colonial Athletic Association game on Saturday afternoon at Vidas Field. It was the conference opener for both teams.

The game was back and forth all afternoon as neither team had more than a two-goal lead at any point in the contest. In the second half, the game was tied on four different occasions. Young scored the game winner just 31 seconds after Drexel's Will Manganiello tied the game at seven. Manganiello dodged past a Towson defender and his bounce shot evened the score. Towson had scored the previous two goals, the second by Mike Lynch with just under nine minutes to go giving Towson a 7-6 advantage. Drexel had the ball in the final minute with a chance to tie, but Matt Hoy saved Cole Shafer's shot with about 10 seconds to play as the Tigers closed out the victory.

Ryan Drenner had a big day for the Tigers. The senior tied a career-high with four goals. He was the only Tiger with more than one score. Lynch and Joe Seider each had two points. Shafer, Manganiello and Robert Frazee each score twice for the Dragons.

Towson got on the board first when Brian Bolewicki scored just two minutes in. That lead lasted until the final minute of the quarter, when Matt Klinges found Luke Hurley in transition and the freshman netted his first career goal. The Dragons took the lead early in the second quarter on the man-up when Cole Shafer scored the first of his two goals on the day. Towson answered midway through the quarter when Ryan Drenner had an unassisted tally. It would be the first of four Drenner goals. Drexel scored the next two goals to close the first half. The first came from Robert Frazee. He took a pass from Zach Manns, who was set up behind the net, and rifled a shot past Hoy. The lead increased to two as the Dragons scored another transition goal. Towson fired a shot off the post that bounced towards midfield. Klinges scooped up the ball, raced into the offensive end and gave it to Shafer, who scored from the left side making it 4-2.

The two-goal lead was short lived as the Tigers scored twice in the first two and a half minutes of quarter number three. Jon Mazza set up Joe Seider for his 12^th goal of the year and Drenner's second of the day made it 4-4. The teams would alternate the next four goals as Manganiello and Frazee scored for Drexel, while Drenner picked up two more for the Tigers, making it 6-6 early in the fourth.

Jimmy Joe Granito again played well in the cage for Drexel. He turned aside 11 shots as the Tigers outshot Drexel, 46-25. Hoy had 10 saves in his first win of the year. The Tigers held the advantage in face-offs, 12-6, and dominated possession on a cool afternoon in West Philadelphia.

The Dragons return to the field next week in another game at Vidas Field. Drexel will host Fairfield at 4 p.m. on Saturday.