Delaware Downs Men's Lacrosse at Vidas Field, 15-13

Saturday, April 6

Vidas Field

1 p.m.

Drexel University

4-6, 0-2CAA

Delaware

9-2, 2-0CAA

Delaware

Drexel

Delaware Downs Men's Lacrosse at Vidas Field, 15-13

4/6/2019 3:01:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Delaware scored the first three goals of the game and never trailed as the Blue Hens defeated Drexel, 15-13. The Dragons (4-6, 0-2) rallied late to cut the lead to two, but the Hens (9-2) held off to win their third straight game and stay undefeated at 2-0 in CAA play. Matt Varian finished with seven points and Reid Bowering added six more in the loss for Drexel.

The Blue Hens scored on their first three shots of the afternoon and led by three just five minutes into the game. Drexel answered with a pair of its own in a span of 43 seconds as Bowering and Ryan Genord each had a goal. However, as was the case all afternoon, every time Drexel pulled within a goal or two, the Blue Hens answered. Delaware scored five of the next six goals, including a man-up score by Charlie Kitchen, to take a five-goal lead. The teams swapped goals over a stretch of 53 seconds as Varian scored with the extra-man and Kitchen had another with 3:01 to go in the first half. Drexel appeared to gain momentum back as Varian and Bowering each had goals in the final minutes of the half, but Joe Eisele scored the second of his five goals with just 46 seconds until halftime to put the Hens back up by a 10-6 score at intermission.

The Dragons got off to a quick start in the second half as they started the third quarter on the man-up due to a Delaware penalty with two seconds left in the half. Varian set up Ryan Genord 17 seconds into the half for his second of the day and with 9:51 to play Bowering had another to cut the lead to 10-8. Eisele and Clay Miller answered to up the lead to four midway through the third before Drexel once again chipped away at the lead. Genord scored again in the third, and 14 seconds into the fourth Varian had his third goal to make it 12-10. That would be as close as Drexel could get until the final minute. Eisele had two more goals in the fourth, including one with 1:14 to play to make it 15-11. Drexel was able to convert two extra man goals in the final 1:03 of the game, but the Blue Hens picked up a crucial CAA road win to remain tied atop the standings after two weeks.

Kitchen finished the afternoon with seven points to lead Delaware. He had a hat trick and four assists. Eisele added an assist to go along with five goals. Bryce Reid scored a pair and assisted on two others, while Matt DeLuca made 12 saves in recording the win.

Bowering finished the day with five goals to lead Drexel. The junior picked up his 17th career hat trick and now has 88 career goals. Varian tied a career-high with his third seven-point performance. Genord recorded his first career hat trick in the contest. The Dragons outshot the Blue Hens, 41-37 and had nine more ground balls than the visitors from Newark. Drexel's Jimmeh Koita won 20 of 31 face-offs and had a game-high 11 ground balls. The Drexel man-up offense, which came into the game ranked 11th in the country, continued to get the job done. The Dragons scored on five of their eight man-up attempts, the most the team has scored in a game since February of 2015.

Drexel will face a must win situation next weekend. Fairfield comes to town for a CAA contest on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Vidas Field.