Men’s lacrosse finishes season with 6-9 record | The Triangle

Men’s lacrosse finishes season with 6-9 record

Photo courtesy Drexeldragons.com
Photo courtesy Drexeldragons.com

To say the Drexel University men’s lacrosse team played well for their final game of the regular season is an understatement. The Dragons had one of their best games April 29 against the University of Massachusetts.

The Dragons ran impressive offense without neglecting defense. This was the final game of the regular season for the Dragons, so perhaps they were trying to go into the postseason with strong momentum. This was also Drexel’s final conference game of the season and with this victory the Dragons won their final two conference games.

The beginning of the first half didn’t start quite how one would expect with the end score 10-5 in favor of Drexel. UMass scored the first goal of the game after making a solid defensive stand against the Dragons.

However, Drexel turned around five minutes later at 6:04 and tied the game at 1-1. After Drexel gained an extra man because of a penalty on UMass, junior Robert Frazee scored on an assist by senior Frank Fusco.

Just 30 seconds later, Frazee scored again to make the score 2-1, this time with an assist from sophomore Nail Akl.

Drexel junior Cole Shafer scored his fourth goal of the season before the end of the first quarter, giving the Dragons a two-point lead.

The second quarter began the way the first had ended. At 13:13 the Dragons scored their fourth goal of the game. Will Manganiello scored his 12th goal of the season to give the Dragons a three-goal lead.

UMass was finally able to break the Dragons’ streak by scoring at 6:31, bringing the score to 4-2 in favor of Drexel. The Dragons retaliated, keeping their three-goal lead. They scored their fifth goal of the game at 5:10. Nick Valentino scored the goal, his third of the season. The Dragons took a dominant performance into halftime, hoping to continue their great play.

In the third quarter UMass attempted to take back some momentum by scoring just two minutes into the period. Today was clearly not a day to test the Dragons because quickly after UMass scored, Drexel responded with a goal at the 11:16 mark. Robert Frazee scored his third goal of the game to give the Dragons a 6-3 lead.

It wasn’t until 3:14 that either team scored another goal. UMass scored once more, bringing the game within two points of a tie.

Drexel took control of the fourth quarter to put away UMass with ease. The Dragons scored twice, once at 11:23 and again at 9:04, both thanks to Nick Valentino, who walked away from the game with a hat trick.

UMass scored once more to bring the score to 8-5, but Drexel did not allow them to score again. Robert Frazee scored his fourth goal of the game with only 50 seconds left in the game, and Drexel scored a final time 28 seconds later.

Robert Frazee earned himself the much-deserved distinction of CAA Co-Player of the week. He played an outstanding game, scoring four goals— almost as many as the entire opposing team combined.

The Dragons faced a very tough Towson University team in their first postseason matchup. Towson is nationally ranked number 12, and the Dragons had their work cut out for them.

The Dragons dropped the game 10-6.