VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (April 1, 2017) – The Drew University men's lacrosse team methodically chipped away at an early deficit ­­at Virginia Wesleyan College to tie the game at 8-8 late in the fourth quarter, but the Rangers ultimately fell 9-8 in overtime on Saturday afternoon.
 
By the Numbers: Drew drops its overall record to 4-5, while the Marlins improve to 2-7 and 2-2 at Birdsong Field. It was a matchup that promised to be tight as the only common opponent between the two sides was Greensboro College, which took matching 14-7 losses to both Drew and Va. Wesleyan this season.
 
Top Performers
• Freshman midfielder Seamus O'Connor had an early career-defining game with his first hat trick as a Ranger and an assist for his career-high four points in the loss. His unassisted blast tied the contest at 8-8 with 2:14 left in regulation to force overtime. The Marlins had been leading since going up 2-1 with 3:30 elapsed in the game.
• Continuing his scoring streak was freshman midfielder Kevin Goettlich, who scored in his ninth straight game to start his college career. His marker in the fourth was part of a three-goal run to help tie it up late in the game.
• Junior attacker Jack Crowley contributed three points on a goal and two assists to maintain his team lead in points this season with 23.
 
The Difference: With 34 seconds left in the first overtime period, senior goalkeeper Teddy Sweeney made one of the prettier of his 12 saves to deny a potential game-winner off the stick of a Marlin attacker. A fortuitous bounce and a quick reaction by Wesleyan's Andre Brummit put the ball quickly back in the Marlins possession before Brummit scored a quick rebound goal to send the Marlins to the sudden-death victory.
 
Highlights
• Senior midfielder Tom Cotroneo tied the game at 1-1 with an unassisted score 2:40 into the game. Virginia Wesleyan would score three straight to take a 4-1 lead, an advantage they held until the final three minutes of the contest.
• Crowley found junior attacker Devin Lyons in front of net in the second to make it 4-2. The Marlins answered quickly to regain a three-goal cushion at the end of quarter one.
• O'Connor, Crowley and a man-up goal from sophomore attacker Ryan D'Alessandro helped Drew go on a 3-1 run to end the first half down 6-5. Crowley assisted on the power-play goal with 2:02 to play in the second, Drew's only man-up conversion in two tries on the day.
• Down 8-5, another scoring run would tie the game and send it to extra time with unassisted tallies from O'Connor and Goettlich before O'Connor's game-tying shot.
 
Stat Sheet
• Junior faceoff specialist Joe Palmieri won 10-of-18 at the X, but the Marlins edged Drew in faceoff by game's end, 11-10.
• Drew took extremely good care of the ball, committing a season-low 14 turnovers and posting the team's first perfect clear percentage (24-of-24) of the season.
• Shot stats were similar with the Marlins outshooting Drew slightly, 36-34, but both teams put 21 on target.
• Sweeney added six groundballs and didn't commit a single turnover in his 63-plus minutes. His grounders helped the Rangers lead the category on Saturday, 34-32.
• Drew killed all three of its man-down situations.
 
Up Next: The Rangers resume Landmark Conference action on Saturday, April 8 at Elizabethtown College at 2:00 p.m.