April 10, 2010
PHILADELPHIA, Pa.- Despite a pair of goals from freshman Kyle VanThof (Penfield, N.Y.) and sophomore Matthew Mackrides (Newtown Square, Pa.), the Nittany Lion men's lacrosse team (1-9, 0-2 CAA) dropped a 12-7 decision at No. 8 Drexel (9-2, 2-0 CAA) Saturday afternoon. Penn State's next action comes at home on Saturday, April 17 vs. Hofstra at Jeffrey Field.
Penn State got on the board first with an unassisted goal from VanThof at the 11:51 mark in the first quarter. Drexel ripped off the next three goals, however, to make the score a 3-1 Dragon advantage. The three goals, including two conversions from Colin Ambler, came in a one-minute span from the 10:39 mark in the first quarter to the 9:40 mark. Mackrides broke the streak with an unassisted goal with 7:12 remaining in the first quarter to bring the Nittany Lions within one goal, 3-2.
The two teams exchanged goals again, with Drexel's Ambler recording his third of the quarter and Mackrides netting his second, bringing his team-leading total to 27 goals on the year. Drexel scored twice more to take a 6-3 lead into the second quarter and never relinquished the advantage despite a continued attack from Penn State's offense.
Dragon attackman Ambler got his fourth and final goal of the day just six seconds into the second quarter and teammate Kevin Stockel's first goal of the day extended the Drexel lead to 8-3. PSU's VanThof scored his second goal of the afternoon before the quarter expired, bringing the DU lead back to just four goals, 8-4.
Drexel got another score before VanThof assisted a Billy Gribbin (Rockville, Md.) goal to make it a 9-5 Drexel advantage. VanThof's five points on the day were a career high for the freshman. Drexel added another before the third quarter drew to a close, and led the Nittany Lions 10-5 entering the final stanza.
Freshman Nick Dolik (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) scored his 15th goal of the year to kick-off fourth quarter action and brought the Nittany Lions within four goals. Drexel ripped off two more goals, however, to take the lead to a 12-6 advantage. Penn State tacked on one more goal before the game ended. Junior midfielder Matt Shankoff's (Flemington, N.J.) second score of the year made the final score Drexel 12, Penn State 7, with 1:08 remaining in the game.
VanThof led PSU with five points (2 goals, 1 assist) with Mackrides also adding two goals. Ambler paced Drexel with eight points on four goals.
Penn State's Dave Baker (Havertown, Pa.) had 11 saves in the loss. Drexel's Mark Manos got credit for the win, playing all but 1:40 for the Dragons in goal and tallying 16 saves. Manos gave up all seven Nittany Lion goals. Despite coming out on the losing end of the CAA match-up, Penn State out-shot Drexel 40-35.
The Nittany Lions next host Hofstra on Saturday, April 17 for a 7:30 p.m. face-off at Jeffrey Field.