The Drexel University men’s lacrosse team played the Fairfield University Stags April 8. This was the Dragons’ second Colonial Athletic Association game, and they came away with the win.
Opening the game, both teams took shots on goal but neither could score until there was 10:56 to play when senior Cole Shafer put the Dragons on the scoreboard. Less than 40 seconds later, freshman teammate Zach Manns scored unassisted for his first goal of this season and his career.
In the next two minutes, Fairfield found the net for its first goal of the game. A goal from senior Robert Frazee would extend the lead for the Dragons to 3-1 with 6:32 to play. Fellow senior Joe Rainoldi scored with 3:15 to play in the quarter, and freshman Reid Bowering had his first of four goals at the 1:29 mark.
Fairfield came out strong to open the second quarter by tying the game during the first three minutes of play. Two saves by goalkeeper Jimmy Joe Granito helped the Dragons regain control and momentum to move the ball to Reid Bowering for a goal with 8:28 to play.
To close out the second quarter, Rainoldi netted his second goal of the game with 1:16 on the clock to give the Dragons a two-point lead heading into intermission.
Hungry for the win, the Dragons came back into play in the third quarter to continue their scoring run and increase their lead to 9-5 within the first five minutes of play. Sophomore Marshal King recorded his eighth goal of the season, and Bowering scored off of an assist from Shafer for his 16th goal of the season.
In a man-up situation, Bowering assisted a Shafer goal to keep the Dragons leading by four after Fairfield had responded with a goal. This was Shafer’s 24th goal of the season and he currently leads the team in goals for the season so far. Fairfield wasn’t ready to let the Dragons move into the fourth quarter with a four-point lead, so they responded with three goals within less than two minutes of play. The margin was only one goal for the Dragons heading into the fourth quarter, but they quickly turned that around.
The fourth quarter began with two quick goals from the Dragons during the first three minutes of play. The goals themselves were only separated by 48 seconds. Junior Will Manganiello had his eighth goal of the season and Rainoldi completed his hat trick for the game.
Over the next seven minutes of play, Fairfield went on a 3-0 scoring run to bring them again within one point of the Dragons. Another save by Granito and three other missed shots by Fairfield gave the Dragons a much needed 13-12 win.
Bowering had five points for this game with four goals and one assist. He was named Athlete of the Week by the Drexel University School of Education for the week ending April 10.
Jimmy Joe Granito came away with 12 saves which gives him a season total of 118 so far.
The Dragons will travel to Hempstead, New York April 15 to play the No. 2 Hofstra University Pride. This will be a big game for the Dragons as Hofstra hasn’t lost a single game this year so far. Faceoff is at 7 p.m.