PHILADELPHIA – The Hawks scored two quick goals in the first 15 minutes of play, but the Dragons answered with three in the next 9:27 as the Saint Joseph's men's soccer squad ultimately fell to Drexel, 4-3, at Vidas Field in Philadelphia Soccer Six action on Wednesday evening. With the loss, the Hawks fall to 8-6-2 (0-1-1 Soccer Six) while the Dragons improve to 8-5-3 (1-0-1 Soccer Six).

The match was for half of the Soccer Six crown, shared with Villanova. 

Junior forward Leon Maric converted a penalty kick in the eighth minute to get the Hawks on the board first with his team-leading 10th goal of the season, becoming the first Hawk to reach double-digit goals in a single season since Ryan Dougherty scored 10 in 2001. 

Just under six-and-a-half minutes later, the Hawks doubled their lead as sophomore midfielder Ritchie Barry put away his seventh of the season; Barry's initial shot was blocked but found its way to sophomore defender David Grana, who tapped it back to Barry for the score.

Drexel, however, responded with three goals, in the 15th minute (inside the box, just 50 seconds after Barry's), the 21st minute (30 yards out), and the 24th minute (18 yards out) to take its first lead of the game at the 23:27 mark. 

The Dragons added a fourth goal on a close header just under three minutes before the halftime break to take a 4-2 advantage after the first 45:00.

Freshman goalkeeper Joseph Boehm (8-6-2, 0-1-1 Soccer Six) played the first 45:00, making one save in the process.

Redshirt freshman Nick DeShong came in for the second half for his third collegiate appearance and shut down the Drexel offense, making two saves vs. zero goals allowed in the final 45:00, a career-high for minutes played. DeShong was tested right off the bat with a Drexel PK opportunity in the 53rd minute, but he stopped Mathias Ebbesen's attempt to keep the match at two. 

Senior midfielder Derek MacKinnon (62') and sophomore midfielder Alvin Dahn (66') would fire off a pair of shots on net, both saved by Dragon keeper Cameron Sanders, before Barry broke through with his second of the night in the 74th minute, poking in a loose ball in front of the net to the far post from eight yards out. 

With 16:01 remaining in regulation, the Hawks took three shots that went either wide (79', 81') or high (86') of the net before DeShong came up with his second save of the night, again against Ebbesen, in the 87th minute.

With one tick to go, at the 89:59 mark, Maric blasted a final attempt for the Crimson and Gray, but Sanders made his fourth save of the night as time expired.

The Hawks fired off 18 shots for the match, led by the combined nine-shot efforts of Barry (5) and MacKinnon (4), compared to the Dragon's 14. 

Of note, freshman defender Johnny Cunningham saw 45 minutes to match his season-high total for minutes played while redshirt junior midfielder Lou Vilotti (34) and freshman defender James McCombs (26) played their second-highest minute totals of the season. 

Saint Joseph's returns to action at Rhode Island (11-3-0, 4-2-0 A-10) this Saturday, October 27. Kickoff at the URI Soccer Complex in Kingston, R.I. is set for 7:00 p.m. The Rams currently sit third in the A-10 standings, with 12 points, while the Hawks tie for seventh with Duquesne, with eight points.