Drexel Hosts No. 16 Albany in Home Opener on Saturday

from DrexelDragons.com

Philadelphia, Pa. - The Drexel men's lacrosse team opens its home schedule on Saturday afternoon as it hosts the 16th-ranked University at Albany. Face-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Vidas Field.

Drexel opened the season last Saturday at No. 7 Virginia and nearly knocked off the Cavaliers. The Dragons trailed by two goals late in the fourth quarter, but rallied to tie it with just 10 seconds left when Ryan Belka evened the score at 12-12, However, the Cavaliers won the opening face-off in the overtime period and scored just 11 seconds into the extra period as Virginia escaped with a one-goal win against the Dragons for the second straight season.

Ben McIntosh picked up his first career hat trick for the Dragons. Nick Trizano, Frank Fusco, Andrew Vivian and Aaron Prosser each had a pair of goals. Freshman Will Gabrielsen, in his first collegiate game, made 15 saves for the Dragons.

Albany opened its season on Sunday with a 16-15 victory in double overtime against No. 13 Syracuse. The Great Danes got off to a quick start and had an 8-4 lead late in the first half, before the Orange scored 10 second half goals to force overtime. Lyle Thompson had two goals and six assists to lead the Great Danes, while Ty Thompson scored five goals.

Tickets for Saturday's game are $5 in advance and $8 at the door. Call 1-866-4DREXEL or visit drexeltickets.com to purchase tickets. Youth tickets (12 and under) and Drexel students with a valid ID are free. Due to the threat of inclement weather, the game will not have video streaming. Live stats will be available.

Wings Lacrosse 2013 (2-23-13 at Rochester, 2-24-13 vs. Colorado)

By Tom Hoffman

Coming off of a second bye week and looking to end a three game losing streak, the Philadelphia Wings (2-3) will travel to face the defending champion Rochester Knighthawks (3-4) on February 23 in the opener of a back to back weekend that concludes on February 24 with a home matchup against the Colorado Mammoth (2-4).  Game time Saturday in Rochester is at 7:30 PM while Sunday’s game at the Wells Fargo Center is at 4 PM.  Both games can be seen live at www.youtube.com/thelacrossenetwork.

History

The Wings are 15-27 all time against the Knighthawks in regular season play, 5-15 in Rochester.  The Knighthawks have won 10 consecutive regular season games against the Wings including their 20-10 thrashing of the Wings on February 8 at the Wells Fargo Center.  Against Colorado the Wings are 30-14 all time and 16–6 in Philadelphia including the Mammoth’s previous seasons in Baltimore (1987-1999), Pittsburgh (2000) and Washington (2001-2002). Since the team’s move to Denver the Wings are 8-4 overall, 4-2 in Philadelphia.

Last Time Out

The Wings last played on February 8 when they dropped a 20-10 decision at the Wells Fargo Center to Rochester.  Brodie Merrill notched a hat trick for the Wings while former Wing Dan Dawson had an 11 point game with four goals and eleven assists.
Rochester saw a three game win streak come to an end last Saturday as they fell at home to the Buffalo Bandits 10-6.  Colorado dropped their second game in a row on Saturday losing 14-7 to the Edmonton Rush at the Pepsi Center. 

Trivia

These three players played for both the 2001 Wings and the 2006 Colorado Mammoth championship teams.  Name the players. Answer will be listed below.

Notes and stuff

The Wings haven’t swept a weekend of back to back games since 2011 when they defeated the Boston Blazers 11-5 on January 28 in Boston then came home on January 29 to defeat the Colorado Mammoth 12-11.

On this date

The Wings are on 0-1 on February 23 losing in 2002 to the Columbus Landsharks 15-14 in overtime at the First Union Center.  On February 24 the Wings are 3-3.  In 1989 they defeated the New England Blazers 16-11 at the Centrum in Worcester.  In 1996 they defeated the Boston Blazers 12-10 at the Spectrum and in 2001 defeated the Buffalo Bandits 17-12 at the First Union Center.  In 2006 the Wings lost 12-11 in overtime to the Toronto Rock at the Air Canada Centre, in 2007 they lost 13-12 to the Bandits at HSBC Arena and in 2012 the Wings lost 12-10 to the Edmonton Rush at Rexall Place.

Answer

Dave Stilley, Jamie Hanford and Jay Jalbert played on both championship teams.   

Next Game

The Wings will return to action on March 1 when they travel to Buffalo to face the Bandits at First Niagara Center.