Men’s lacrosse falls short against Drexel

Kate McAvey

The men’s lacrosse team fell one goal short of a win this weekend as they battled against Drexel last Saturday on Drexel’s campus. The ‘Cats were almost able to take the lead after a well-fought comeback, but they ran out of time, and failed to finish the game victorious.

Although the loss stung for Villanova, freshman Kevin Cunningham had an impressive breakthrough performance totaling two goals and one assist on the day. It was ‘Nova’s slow start that hurt them throughout the game. The team was down 3-0 going into the second quarter after allowing three goals to get by them in the first period.

‘Nova didn’t stay scoreless for long though, as they came out determined to start the second quarter with a quick goal just a minute into play. Freshman CJ Small put the Wildcats on the board with a blast past Dragon goalie Mark Manos. The Dragons were strong offensively the entire game and they didn’t wait long to respond to Small’s goal. Drexel was able to get two by the Wildcats, bringing the score to 5-1.

Cunningham netted his second goal of the day to give ‘Nova some life and some much-needed action on the scoreboard. Before the second quarter came to a close, the Dragons were able to score two more to add to their lead making the score 7-2 at halftime.

Although they were trailing by five, the Wildcats did not give up hope. A rally in the third brought the game back to a close competition. The rally was ignited with a goal from senior Matthew Fritts and began a scoring streak of five goals in less than five minutes for the Wildcats. Senior Tim Driscoll netted two, adding to his total of 23 goals for the season thus far. Cunningham scored his second goal of the afternoon during this remarkable rally. It was a goal by senior Dan Liva that put the ‘Cats neck and neck with the Dragons, tying the game at seven a piece.

Entering the fourth quarter, the game turned into a nail biter. Drexel was able to reclaim the lead with a goal a little more than two minutes into the final quarter. Down by one, the Wildcats and the Dragons fought a hard battle going back and forth until finally ‘Nova was able to put one in the back of the net off the stick of Driscoll on an assist from senior Chris MacDonald.

The game was back to a clean slate with just a little over six minutes to go. Drexel couldn’t stay tied for long, though, because in less than a minute they were able to slip one by ‘Nova. The Dragons were ahead by one on a score of 9-8. Although Villanova attempted a couple of promising shots on goal with five minutes of play left they weren’t able to find the back of the net this time and the quarter came to end with the Wildcats defeated.

Senior Colin Ambler led the Dragons in scoring, totaling three on the afternoon. Drexel goalkeeper Manos, who earned the win, totaled 16 saves for the game. Villanova goalie Andrew DiLoreto had six saves taking his season total to 98 so far.

Although it was almost a win this time around for Villanova, it was its third consecutive loss to Drexel. Next Saturday the Wildcats will try to continue to build on their strong season,when they take on Robert Morris this Saturday at 1 p.m. at home.