PHILADELPHIA – Closing out the Philly Four Classic, the Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse team stumbled in an 18-16 defeat to Drexel on Saturday afternoon, hosted by Penn at Franklin Field.
 
The loss moves St. Joe's to 3-3 on the season, all three losses coming by two or fewer goals.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Levi Anderson got the scoring started on the afternoon, finding the back of the net in the opening minute to give SJU an early lead.
• After Drexel responded moments later, William King tallied a strike to regain the advantage, but the Dragons responded with two goals in a minute to take their first lead at 3-2.
• Matt Bohmer and Michael Gaughan each struck paydirt midway through the quarter, but three-straight goals from Drexel to close out the frame gave a 6-4 advantage to the Dragons after the first.
• Drexel continued its run with a goal to open the scoring in the second before Tucker Brown finally disrupted the 4-0 Dragon run. But the city foes responded with another 3-0 burst, increasing the lead to 10-5.
• After Carter Page grabbed his first of the day, the Dragons scored the final two goals to take a 12-6 advantage into the break.
• The Hawks came out looking to grow into the game, doing just that after Cole Peters found the back of the net in the opening minutes for his first of the season. Page and Anderson made it three-straight for the Hawks to cut the gap to 12-9.
• After two goals from Drexel, another 3-0 Hawk run ensued from a Brown tally with 40 seconds remaining in the third, extending into the fourth with goals from Colin Reich and Stephen Dwyer.
• Despite cutting the lead to as few as two, the Hawks struggled to close the gap as Drexel scored four of the next five goals to grow its advantage to 18-13.
• Anderson and Page would each net their hat tricks in the final minutes, as Levi Verch followed to score seven seconds after Page to cut the final score down to 18-16 in favor of the Dragons.

 
GAME NOTES

• The Hawks have now dropped three-straight after starting the year 3-0. SJU has dropped two-straight to Drexel, falling 18-17 in last year's meeting.
• Anderson, Page and Brown all recorded hat tricks in the loss. Anderson added a team-high two assist.
• Page has now scored in 18 consecutive games.
• Zach Cole was 23-37 from the X on the afternoon.
• Robbie Seeley played the entire game, netting seven saves.
• SJU outshot Drexel 57-33, converting that into a 32-25 shot on goal advantage.
• The Hawks were just 1-8 in extra man opportunities.

 
UP NEXT

• The Hawks take to the road for a Saturday, March 18 matchup against St. John's. Face off is set for 1 p.m.