Ryan Drenner Scores Four as Tigers Roar past Dragons in Second Half
The Drexel Dragons (3-6, 0-1) opened up CAA action versus the #14 Towson Tigers (5-3, 1-0) at Vidas Athletic Complex this past weekend and fell 8-7 in one of the most intense games this season for both teams.
The Dragons who started the season losing their first four games went 3-1 before starting conference action. That loss came in overtime to Providence 9-8.
Towson moved to 4-1 on March 11th after defeating #6 John Hopkins their only loss at the time was to Loyola. But following two consecutive losses to #17 Ohio State and #6 Denver, both at home the Tigers wanted to make a statement.
Brian Bolewicki put Towson on the board first by scoring his first of the night off a feed from Mike Lynch. Drexel would finally tie the game with 1:02 to go in the first quarter as Luke Hurley would score his first of the year.
Tough defense by both teams kept this game close in the first quarter. Drexel was outshot 12-5 in the first as the Towson defense made it difficult for the Dragons to get shots off, and when they did, the Tiger defense picked up the loose balls.
The second quarter was all Drexel. Cole Shafer scored twice, and Robert Frazee scored as the Drexel offense was breathing fire outscoring Towson 3-1. Shafer’s second goal gave him 22 on the year (106 for career, 6th all-time), but it also vaulted him past Ben McIntosh for 15th all-time with 143 points. The quarter was stolen by Dragon goaltender Jimmy Joe Granito by making some huge saves as Drexel took a 4-2 lead at the half.
As the second half started, so did the Towson offense. Joe Seider would cut the lead in half before Ryan Drenner would fire a rising shot past Granito to tie the game. Will Manganiello would net his sixth of the season to give the Dragons the lead back, but only for a couple minutes.
Ryan Drenner would net his third of the game (19th season) to tie the game once again, but Robert Frazee would net his second of the game as Drexel would hold a one goal lead heading into the final quarter.
Once again it was Drenner getting it started for Towson, scoring his fourth of the game just 1:44 into the final quarter. Mike Lynch would score just over four minutes later to give Towson their first lead since the opening goal to start the game. Will Manganiello would net his second goal of the game just 62 seconds later to tie the game once again.
Towson would take the final lead for either squad as Tyler Young would slip behind the Drexel defense and put a shot past Granito with 7:21 to go in regulation
The teams would battle hard for the next six minutes, blocking shots, hard hits and limiting each others opportunities. Drexel would get the ball with just 1:17 to go and get two chances to send this to overtime.
Joe Rainoldi’s behind the back shot would be deflected wide, but Drexel would get one final attempt with only twelve seconds to go. Cole Shafer would find an open lane and fire a shot, but Towson goalie Matt Hoy who received his first start of the year came up with a huge save to preserve the win for the Tigers.
Not only did the Tigers take 23 shots to Drexel’s 10 in the second half, but they also picked up twice as many loose balls (12-6).
Towson’s Ryan Drenner (4G) led all scorers. Drexel’s Robert Frazee, Cole Shafer, and Will Manganiello each netted a pair
CAA action continues this weekend as both teams are back in action.
Towson (5-3, 1-0) will host UMass (4-5, 1-0) at 12pm. UMass is coming off a 9-6 win last week as the hosted Delaware.
Drexel (3-6, 0-1) will host Fairfield (3-7, 0-1) at 4pm. Fairfield has lost five of their last six games including a 10-6 loss to Hofstra last weekend.
