Dragons Down No. 16 Fairfield, 14-6, to Advance to CAA Championship Game

Thursday, May 1

Towson, Md.

7 p.m.

Drexel University

8-7

Fairfield

12-3

Drexel

Fairfield

Dragons Down No. 16 Fairfield, 14-6, to Advance to CAA Championship Game

5/1/2025 9:13:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

Donnelly makes 13 saves in the win for DU

TOWSON, Md. – Drexel led from start to finish in a 14-6 win against No. 16 Fairfield in the CAA Semifinals at Johnny Unitas Stadium on the campus of Towson University. Brendan Donnelly made 13 saves and Witt Crawford scored five times as the Dragons advanced to the CAA title game for the first time since 2021. Drexel (8-7) will face Towson on their home field at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. The Tigers defeated Hofstra in overtime, 11-10, in the first semifinal.

Drexel started the game with three goals in the first six and a half minutes. Crawford started the scoring with a shot from straight on after a nice feed by Jack Joyner three minutes in. Max Semple and Crawford then added consecutive goals making it 3-0. Fairfield broke the run with a Luke Okupski goal, but Gavin Kelly answered with a sprint down the right side and Teddy Luthy added another, putting the Dragons up by four.

The Stags countered with two straight scores, one at the end of the first and another early in the third, cutting the deficit to 5-3. That would be the last goal the Stags would score for almost 28 minutes. During that stretch the Dragons scored seven time to take control of the game. The Dragons added three goals, two by Conor Hooley and another by Crawford, to take an 8-3 lead at the break. Brendan Donnelly had an outstanding half in the cage for the Blue and Gold. The sophomore made nine of his 13 saves in the first half.

In the third quarter Drexel had a pair of goals from Semple and another pair by Crawford as they opened up a 12-3 lead and never looked back. The Dragons will return to the CAA title game for the first time since 2021. It was the first postseason win for first-year head coach Steve Boyle and was also his first win against a nationally-ranked opponent.

Crawford's five goals set a new career-high for the sophomore. He now has 29 goals this season. He was one of three Dragons who had hat tricks on a warm night outside of Baltimore. Hooley and Semple also had three scores as the Dragons found the back of the net on 14 of their 31 shots.

Drexel's defense had one of its best games of the season. The Dragons held the Stags to eight goals less than their average. Fairfield came into the postseason averaging 14.5 goals per game. The Stags outshot Drexel, 38-31, and won 14 of the 24 face-offs, but never recovered from Drexel's 7-0 run midway through the game.

Drexel will be looking for its third CAA Championship this weekend. The Dragons won the title in 2014 and 2021. Saturday will be the team's sixth visit to the CAA title game.