Drexel Drops No. 3 Notre Dame in Overtime

from staff reports

Drexel's Kevin Stockel celebrates his game-tying goal, his third of the game, with just over two minutes remaining in regulation. The Dragons went on to upset No. 3 Notre Dame on freshman Robert Church's goal in OT. © Kevin P. Tucker

PHILADELPHIA -- Freshman Robert Church fired a shot past Scott Rodgers with 22 seconds remaining in overtime, as the unranked Drexel men's lacrosse team stunned No. 3-ranked Notre Dame, 7-6.

Mark Manos made 17 saves, as the Dragons (4-1) handed the Irish (3-1) their first loss of the season. The loss snapped Notre Dame’s 20-game regular-season win streak.

Sophomore midfielder Max Pfeifer (Crozet, Va./Western Albermarle) scored a career-high four goals for the Fighting Irish. Senior midfielder Grant Krebs (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary’s) and junior midfielder David Earl (Simsbury, Conn./Westminster School) tallied one goal apiece for Notre Dame, while senior attackman Neal Hicks (Atlanta, Ga./Lovett School) had two assists to up his team-best point streak to 21 games.

Drexel jumped on top 16 seconds into the contest on a goal from Andrew Collins. Krebs evened the score with 4:11 left in the first quarter.

The Dragons regained the lead on a Dana Wilber tally with 2:57 showing on the clock in the opening quarter. It did not take long for Notre Dame to answer as Pfiefer deposited his first goal 26 seconds later during a man-up situation.

Drexel responded on an Aaron Prosser score with just under two minutes left in the first quarter. The Dragons led 3-2 after the opening 15 minutes of play.

Consecutive tallies from Earl and Pfeifer 25 seconds apart gave Notre Dame its first lead of the game (4-3) with 13:04 remaining in the first half. A score from Drexel’s Kevin Stockel, who had three goals on the day, midway through the second quarter made it a 4-4 contest at the intermission.

Notre Dame grabbed the lead once again on another man-up goal from Pfeifer with eight minutes left in the third quarter. That would be the only score for either team in the period. It marked the second straight contest that Notre Dame held an opponent scoreless for an entire quarter. The Irish shut out Loyola in the second quarter of Saturday’s 11-9 victory.
       
Drexel evened the contest (5-5) with 9:19 left in the fourth quarter on Stockel’s second tally. Pfeifer struck again to put Notre Dame back on top with 4:37 showing on the clock. A goal from Stockel with just over two minutes remaining in regulation sent the game to overtime.

The Fighting Irish out shot the Dragons 42-30. Notre Dame also dominated the faceoff X as the Irish won 13 of 17 attempts. Senior midfielder Trever Sipperly (Greenwich, N.Y./Greenwich) took every attempt for the Fighting Irish. Rodgers (Wantagh, N.Y./MacArthur) made 12 saves for Notre Dame, while his counterpart Manos had 17 stops.

Pfeifer’s four goals were the most for an Irish player since Ryan Hoff tallied six against Ohio State in the title game of last season’s Great Western Lacrosse League Tournament.

It was Notre Dame’s first overtime contest since an 8-7 win over Colgate in the first round of the 2008 NCAA tournament.

The Fighting Irish will return to action against Fairfield on Saturday, March 13 in Houston, Texas. The game is slated for a 1:00 p.m. (Central) start at The Kinkaid School.