Dragons Fell Behind Early and Could Not Mount a Rally
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 5/5/2022 –
The Drexel Dragons men’s lacrosse team looked toward defending their CAA Tournament Championship and a return trip to the NCAA Tournament. That journey would begin with a semifinal round game with their rival and top-seeded University of Delaware Blue Hens at Vidas Field. The journey ended as Delaware won in dominating fashion 19 – 6.
“They just played a lot better than us today,” said Drexel Coach Brian Voelker. “We let them do some things they are really good at. They got on a roll and we just couldn’t find the answer to stop it.”
Fast Start by Delaware Forced Drexel to Play Uphill
Delaware started fast scoring on their first shot of the game. Tye Kutz put the ball past Dragons goal keeper Ross Blumenthal less than a minute into the game. It was his first of three goals in the game to go along with 2 assists.
The Blue Hens were up by four goals before the Dragons scored. Zach Augustine scored a man-up goal with 11:55 remaining in the second quarter. Delaware stretched the lead to 8 – 3 at halftime.
In the third quarter the Blue Hens put the game away scoring the first 6 goals of the quarter, and held a 15 – 4 lead after three.
Drexel Did Not Get Possession of the Ball Often Enough
The game was decided as Delaware would not allow Drexel to get rolling on offense by denying them possessions. The Hens won 17 of 27 faceoffs. In the critical first half they held a 10 – 3 advantage. Hens Specialist Logan Premtaj was victorious on 12 of his 16 times in the circle. Grant Isika won 4 of 7 for the hosts.
Adding to the woes Delaware picked up 10 more ground balls than the Dragons.
“We didn’t have the ball a lot and when we did we weren’t super crisp,” Voelker said. “They got us. They won a lot of ground balls and faceoffs. Their offense really clicked today.”
Scoring Recap
Blue Hens leading scorer Mike Robinson led the game with 6 goals giving him 47 for the season. Four of his scores were in the first half. JP Ward added 4 goals and 4 assists giving him a team-best 8 points and 60 for the year.
Ronnie Gunter got the ball into the net twice for Drexel. Ryan Genord and Casey Waller also netted goals for the Dragons. Sean Donnelly assisted twice.
Season Recap
The season ends for Drexel with a 6 – 8 record. They set a season-high in goals allowed, and a season-low in goals scored. A bad combination. especially in tournament play.
Delaware improves to 10 – 5 and will play for the conference championship on Saturday against the UMass – Towson winner.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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