The Drexel University men’s lacrosse team had the comeback of the season against no. 2 Hofstra University Pride. Hofstra led 11-6 going into the last quarter, but the Dragons were able to score seven goals — the last three within less than a minute of each other.
Senior goalkeeper Jimmy Joe Granito had 15 total saves for the game, eight of which were in the last quarter to prevent Hofstra from finishing off the Dragons. For his performance, Granito was named the Colonial Athletic Association player of the week.
Freshman Reid Bowering came away with five goals and two assists to set career-highs in goals and points for the game. Bowering was named CAA freshman of the week for the second consecutive time.
Seniors Cole Shafer and Robert Frazee each had hat tricks, with Shafer also handing off two assists to his fellow teammates. Sophomore Marshal King and junior Jake O’Donnell each scored one goal. King also had two assists to give him three points, while O’Donnell tallied three assists for four points.
The opening quarter wasn’t easy for the Dragons as Hofstra held them scoreless. Going into the second quarter, Hofstra was leading 4-0. The Pride were able to increase their lead to 9-2 by the end of the second quarter.
The Dragons scored twice in the second quarter. Both Reid Bowering and Frazee scored unassisted for their 11th and 18th goals of the season, respectively.
Drexel’s offense started to fire up in the third quarter, where they led the period in scoring 4-2. Hofstra took nine shots with four of them soaring wide. The four goals from the Dragons were scored by Bowering on a man-up just 22 seconds into play, King with an assist from O’Donnell, and two from Shafer with assists from Bowering and then O’Donnell for his 25th and 26th goals for the season.
Jimmy Joe Granito opened the last quarter with two saves in the first two minutes of play to prevent Hofstra from increasing their lead. Bowering scored two goals at 11:11 and 7:38 to play to bring the Dragons within three goals of Hofstra.
Continuing a 5-0 scoring run by the Dragons from the third quarter, both Shafer and Bowering each scored goals on man-ups to bring the Dragons within one point with only 4:11 left to play.
Hofstra’s last goal of the game occurred with 2:30 left to play. Not ready to give up, the Dragons responded with three more goals within 46 seconds of each other, and took a 13-12 lead with just 1:02 to go in the game. Robert Frazee scored twice, and O’Donnell had the final goal of the game. Granito made two saves in the final minute, both within seconds of one another, and the Dragons held on for the upset.
With only two more regular season games until the CAA Championship semifinals and finals, the Dragons are hoping to build from the momentum from this game against Hofstra and finish their season strong.
After giving Hofstra its first loss of the season, the Dragons look ahead to host the University of Delaware Blue Hens Saturday, April 22 at Vidas Field. The Blue Hens are currently 0-3 in CAA play while the Dragons have now increased their CAA record to 2-1. Faceoff is at 3 p.m.