The Triangle

Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Ian Macdonald Drexel had won eight of its previous nine games but fell to rival Delaware 12-11 April 9, dropping the team to 9-3 overall and 2-1 in CAA play.

The game was physical, tempers flared between both the fans and players, and everything went down to the wire-the same could be said about every Drexel-Delaware game, no matter the sport. In the men's lacrosse version of the rivalry April 9, the Blue Hens hung on to win a 12-11 squeaker at Rullo Stadium in Newark.

The 10th-ranked Dragons (9-3, 2-1 CAA) fell behind early but managed to tie the game in the fourth quarter on a Colin Ambler goal. The offense then stalled, and Delaware scored two late goals to pull ahead 11-9 with 1:42 to go. Greg Casey scored within 30 seconds to give the Dragons some hope, but the defense could not stop Curtis Dickson.

Dickson scored six times for the Blue Hens (8-4, 2-1), including once in the final minute, to put Drexel away for good.

"They're a good team," Drexel head coach Chris Bates said. "I expected them to come out with a lot of energy. That's who they are. We didn't want to get ourselves in a position where we have to claw back. We wanted to try to handle the tempo early and not give them that momentum."

The Blue Hen defense prevented Drexel from setting that tempo. The Dragons managed only one first-half goal, and Delaware goalie Tom Scherr stopped all nine shots on goal in the second quarter.

The Blue Hens are traditionally a physical team and always apply intense defensive pressure.

"I don't think we handled it well," Bates said. "Did we expect it? Yes. Did we handle it early? No. We dug ourselves a hole based on not being able to handle it. We had 10 turnovers in the first half, and we didn't shoot the ball well."

When Bates was asked about the message he gave to his players after being down 4-1 at half, he said, "I challenged them at halftime. We knew they were going to push us out, and I challenged the offense at halftime to handle it and not back down."

The Dragons responded with three quick goals in the first five minutes of the half to tie the game, but the Hens answered back with three goals of their own, including two by Dickson to keep the momentum with the home team.

"Unfortunately, we've waited until the second half for some of these runs," Bates said. "I didn't think we handled their pressure and their athleticism early. I think we're better than that."

Once the game ended, some players felt they had some unfinished business on the field as a scrum broke out between the two squads.

"It's Delaware-Drexel, and the rivalry end of it is fun," Bates said. "It's exciting. It's competitive. It's a conference game, but that's too much though, on both sides."

The Dragons' schedule does not get any lighter, as they play conference leader Towson April 12.

"I wish we could play them tomorrow. We kind of want to get back out there right away," Bates said.

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