Men's Lax Blows Late Lead, Loses 12-10 to Drexel

For the 2nd time in as many days, a Villanova team dropped a tight decision after leading the game late. The men's basketball team couldn't hang on to notch a crucial victory over a lowly Seton Hall squad on Monday night, and the men's lax team followed almost the same script last night against the # 14 Drexel Dragons. The Cats led by 4 in the first half and by 2 with ten minutes left, but they faltered late allowing Drexel to score 4 straight goals to end the game, ultimately winning 12-10. With the loss, Villanova drops to 0-2 overall, while Drexel improves to 2-1.

For Villanova, Nick Doherty, Jack Rice, Max Hart, John Kluh, and Jack Curran tallied 2 goals each. The Cats only had 2 assists total, which is surprising since they pride themselves on constant ball movement. Drexel was led by Ben McIntosh and Ryan Belka, who each scored 3 times. Thomas Croonquist won an astounding 19 of 23 faceoffs for Nova, giving them that many more possessions on offense.

Drexel is making a habit of these comebacks, as they almost rallied to beat Virginia in the season opener, and then completed a comeback the week after versus Albany. For Villanova, this loss definitely stings especially considering how many more possessions they had. Goaltending and defense are a big concern for Nova as Greg Stamatov only had 7 saves in the cage. Drexel is a very good offensive team, but successful teams hold onto those leads late in the game.

The upcoming schedule is brutal to say the least. Villanova hosts Delaware on Saturday night, then travels to Princeton before hosting Penn, Maryland, Syracuse, and Penn State. All of these teams except Delaware are nationally ranked.