Spring Break
Men's lax hopes for strong finish
Michael Sipos
Issue date: 4/3/09 Section: Sports
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In 2007, the Dragons accomplished what no other team at Drexel had done before by beating top-ranked Virginia on their way to a share of the CAA regular-season title.
And in 2008, the Dragons arguably had their best season in school history. They set a school record for wins finishing 13-4 overall while going 5-1 in the conference, but lost the CAA Championship game in overtime, preventing them from making the NCAA Tournament.
"Coming into this year, we were looking to get that sour taste out of our mouths from losing in the conference championship game," Mike Avato, a senior defender, said. "We knew we lost a couple of key guys, but we have a lot of depth, and we knew we could return and have another strong season with a lot of experienced players."
And their season to this point has had its share of defining wins and heartbreaking losses.
One of the Dragons most anticipated games this season came against the 20th-ranked Denver Pioneers. After the first two periods, Drexel led by four goals, but had to hold off a Pioneer rally in the final two periods to come away with one of its signature wins.
Colin Ambler, Scott Perri and Joe Wojciechowski had two goals each in the 9-8 victory. It was the first time this season that the Dragons defeated a ranked opponent and perhaps it can be attributed to some fun the Dragons had prior to the game.
"Before the game we actually played a game of baggataway. It's like the roots of lacrosse. We kicked off the cleats and ran around barefoot to get back to the old origins of the game. Coming out of that, we had a pretty good vibe, and we were nice and relaxed," Avato said.
In their most recent game, the Dragons suffered a tough loss to the Towson Tigers, who put together a rally in the final period to earn the win. Drexel led by two goals going into the fourth quarter, but was held off the scoreboard while the Tigers scored five straight goals giving them a 7-4 victory. It was the Dragons first game against a CAA opponent this season.
"We dominated them for almost the whole game with a couple of errors on our side that pretty much gave them the win. Coming out of there, we were all pretty upset about it," Avato said about the loss to Towson.
Despite the loss, Ambler recorded a goal and an assist against the Tigers giving him 21 points (12 goals, 9 assists) overall for his remarkable season up to this point.
And the Dragons remain confident as they go on with the remaining five games on their schedule - all of which are against conference opponents.
"We are definitely one of the better teams in the conference and we know we can win. It's just a matter of us putting together a good game every time we get out on that field," Avato said. "With five games left, if we win four maybe five, we'll make it into the conference tournament at the end of the season and hopefully win which has been our goal all along."
And with the track record the Dragons have had over the past few seasons, who's to say they can't get back to the CAA tournament once more and possibly win it all?
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