Box Score
Philadelphia – Freshman Robert Church took a feed in front of the net from Scott Perri with just 22 seconds remaining in overtime and beat Notre Dame goalkeeper Scott Rodgers to give the Dragons a 7-6 win against the third-ranked Fighting Irish. The 20th-ranked Dragons (4-1) won their fourth straight game and handed the Irish its first loss of the season.
The game was close the entire way as neither team was able to take a two-goal lead at any point in the contest. Notre Dame (3-1) led 5-4 entering the fourth quarter, but that lead was erased when Kevin Stockel scored off a feed from Ryan West to make it 5-5. Notre Dame took the lead with just 4:37 to play when Max Pfeifer scored an unassisted goal. It was his fourth goal of the game. Drexel was able to tie the score at 6-6 with just 2:09 left. West set up Stockel again, this time for his third goal of the game. Stockel now has seven goals in his last two games.
The teams went to halftime tied at 4-4. Drexel led three times before the Irish went ahead, 4-3, when David Earl and Pfeifer scored goals within 25 seconds of each other early in the second quarter. Stockel tied the game with just over seven minutes remaining in the half. The Irish had its chances in the first half, but Mark Manos came up big in goal for the Dragons. The sophomore made nine saves in the second quarter, which helped negate the 26-11 shot advantage the Irish had at intermission.
Notre Dame controlled possession for most of the game as Trever Sipperly was outstanding on face-offs. He won 13 of his 17 attempts, including 10 of the first 12 as the Irish won the time of possession battle by a wide margin in the first three quarters. Drexel’s Nick Kusturiss, who has seen limited time at the “x” as of late, entered the game and won two of his four attempts, which gave Drexel’s offense the ball and a lift in the fourth quarter. The Dragons only won four face-offs in the contest.
The game was a match up of two of the nation’s top goalkeepers. Rodgers, a Third Team All-American a year ago, made 12 saves, including three in the fourth quarter. Manos, the Colonial Athletic Association’s Rookie of the Year in 2009, made 17 saves, the third time already this season he has recorded 17 stops. The Irish outshot the Dragons, 42-30, and had two man-up goals, both by Pfeifer.
Drexel is back in action on Saturday afternoon with a non-conference game against St. John’s at Vidas Field.