Drexel Dragons men's lacrosse

Drexel Dragons
Founded	1941
University	Drexel University
Athletic director	Eric Zillmer
Head coach	Brian Voelker (9th season)
Stadium	Vidas Field (capacity: 1,500)
Location	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Nickname	Dragons
Colors	Navy Blue and Gold[1]
NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals
2014
NCAA Tournament appearances
(3) - NCAA – 2014 USILA – 1972, 1973
Conference Tournament championships
2014
Conference regular season championships
(5) - 2014, 2008, 2007 1978 (ECC), 1956 (Penn-Del Lacrosse League)[2][3]

The Drexel Dragons men's lacrosse team represents Drexel University in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's lacrosse. Drexel currently competes as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) and plays its home games at Vidas Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel made its first NCAA tournament appearance in 2014.

History

Lacrosse was established at Drexel in 1941 under coach Maury McMains. At the time, the university was known as Drexel Institute of Technology.^[4] Drexel's first USILA All-American was Ray Greene, who after serving in World War Two transferred to Johns Hopkins, where he became a Hall of Fame midfielder. Drexel's 1947 schedule included games against Syracuse, Johns Hopkins, Virginia, Penn State and Penn.

Through the 1950s, highlights included Drexel reaching as high as number six in the standings in 1952, finishing the year with a five and two record. In 1958, Dick Young achieved first-team All-American honors at midfielder, as well as leading the team to an 8 and 2 record, with a win over a Lehigh team who would go on to win the "Class C" lacrosse national title the following season.

In 1967, Drexel lacrosse aligned with the Middle Atlantic Conference and in 1975 the East Coast Conference. During this era, Lynn Ferguson, a two-time All-American midfielder, was named an All-American in both football and lacrosse in the same year. Drexel reached the small college USILA tournaments in both 1972 and 1973, with records of 11–3 and 9–4, respectively. The 1972 season also included a 14 to 6 win over the innovative Morgan State Bears lacrosse team.

In 1978, Dennis Fink earned the University’s first-ever NCAA Division I All-America honor for lacrosse, was the first Drexel player to lead the nation in scoring (with 98 points) and currently remains among the all-time leader in several NCAA Lacrosse records. Fink also led Drexel to their only ECC conference title, as well as a 10 and 2 record.^[5]

Drexel would later realign with the North Atlantic Conference (1992) and the America East Conference (1997) before settling in the Colonial Athletic Association in 2002.

The 1998 men's lacrosse squad finished with twelve wins against two defeats, including a 14 to 10 defeat of top 20 Towson University, eleven straight wins to start the season and a number 19 national ranking. In 2007, Drexel lacrosse defeated University of Virginia, ranked number one at the time and the defending National Champion, Drexel's first victory over a number one ranked Division I team in any sport.^[6]

In 2008 the Dragons set a school record with 13 wins, ranking as high as 10th in the nation and reaching the Colonial Tournament finals before losing 10–9 in overtime to Hofstra, narrowly missing out on an NCAA tournament bid.^[7] In 2010, the team reached their highest ever national ranking at number 7 in the nation following a win over then number three Notre Dame, the eventual NCAA Division I tournament runner up. Drexel reached the conference finals again in 2012, after upsetting Penn State, but lost to number one ranked Massachusetts in the finals.^[8]

In 2014, Drexel scored in the third overtime as the Dragons came back from a three-goal deficit with five minutes to go in the game, to defeat Hofstra 11–10, win its first Colonial Athletic Association championship and earn their first NCAA tournament berth in lacrosse. In the first round of the tournament, the Dragons eliminated fourth seeded Penn by a score of 16–11. The highlight of the game was three consecutive goals by Drexel in a span of just over 11 seconds at the end of the first half. The Dragons moved on to the quarterfinals where they lost to Denver 15–6 at Delaware Stadium. The attendance for the game of 7,222 was the largest in Drexel lacrosse history.^[9]

Prior to 2014, Drexel had not appeared in any NCAA Lacrosse Tournaments, though the team did get invitations to the 1972 and 1973 USILA small college tournaments.

Drexel has had 44 lacrosse All-Americans since beginning the sport in 1941.^[10]

In 76 seasons, Drexel has an all-time record of 428 wins, 453 losses and 3 ties.

Notable athletes and coaches

• Chris Bates: Former head coach who played for the Philadelphia Wings, winning NLL titles in 1994, 1995 and 1998, and making the All-Pro team in 1996. In 2009, Bates was named head lacrosse coach at Princeton University, replacing Bill Tierney.^[11]
• Scott Stewart: The 3rd overall pick in the 2001 NLL draft,^[12] accumulating 151 goals with 162 assists for 313 points over a ten-year NLL career.
• Jeff Spano: 2001 graduate who played professionally from 2002 to 2006 with the Philadelphia Wings and the New York Titans,^[13][14] with 28 goals and 78 assists for 106 points in 81 games.
• Robert Church: The fifth overall selection in the 2013 NLL entry draft.^[15]
• Ben McIntosh: The first overall selection in the 2013 Western Lacrosse Association draft, as well as the first overall selection in the 2014 National Lacrosse League draft. Named 2015 NLL Rookie of the Year.^[16]
• Ray Greene: Played on one of the first Drexel lacrosse teams and selected first-team All-American in 1943. Greene was elected to the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1981.^[17]
• Tom Hayes: Former coach who also coached at Rutgers, elected to the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1989.^[18]
• Brian Voelker: Current head coach, elected to the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2015.^[19]
• Dennis Fink: Earned university's first Division I All-America honor for lacrosse. Fink was the first Drexel player to lead the nation in scoring and holds two NCAA Division I men's lacrosse records: points-per-game for a season (98 points in 12 games for an 8.17 per game average) and assists-per-game for a season (63 assists in 12 games for a 5.25 per game average) in 1978.^[20]
• Lynn B. Ferguson: All-American in both football and lacrosse for Drexel, Lower Merion grad.^[21]
• Walter "Sonny" Bajkowski: Currently ranked 20th all-time in Division II total points for a season (96 points in 14 games) and 16th all-time in points-per-game for a season (6.86 ppg for 14 games) in 1972, Boy's Latin grad.^[22]

Annual record

⁽¹⁾ Laxpower Power Rating^[23]

⁽²⁾ Won CAA tournament finals in three overtimes over Hofstra 11–10. Defeated Penn 16–11 in NCAA 1st Round. Lost to Denver 15–6 in NCAA Quarterfinals.

⁽³⁾ Lost CAA tournament finals 18–12 to Massachusetts.

⁽⁴⁾ Lost CAA tournament finals 10–9 in overtime to Hofstra.

⁽⁵⁾ Tied for 1st place in ECC with 3-1 record.

⁽⁶⁾ Invited to post-season USILA small college tournament, lost to Towson 19-7.

⁽⁷⁾ Invited to post-season USILA small college tournament, lost to Towson 17-6.

⁽⁸⁾ Undefeated in Penn-Del league play.

⁽⁹⁾ Unofficially finished with a 3 and 4 record.

⁽¹⁰⁾ In 1941, Drexel played 6 informal games, with a record of 4–2.^[24] The team was suspended in 1944 and 1945 due to World War II.

See also

• NCAA Lacrosse Records
• Lacrosse in Pennsylvania

References

External links

• Official website
• Drexel Lacrosse: A History of the Heart, William Thayer
• 2007 Drexel Upsets Number One Virginia

• Drexel Wins First Ever CAA Title

• Dennis Fink 1978 Sports Illustrated article