Albany, N.Y. - Junior attackman Scott Perri had three goals and one assist as nationally-ranked Drexel held off UAlbany in the fourth quarter for an 11-9 victory on Sunday, March 21 at John Fallon Field. The Dragons are No. 12 in the USILA coaches' poll and No. 16 in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media rankings.
     Drexel (6-1) snapped a 4-4 deadlock by scoring five unanswered over the middle two quarters. Aaron Prosser converted an extra-man opportunity when he cut to the top of the crease to finish off Colin Ambler's feed with 12:39 remaining in the second period. Perri found the net off a rebound after UAlbany goalkeeper John Carroll saved Kevin Stockel's initial blast. The Dragons took a 7-4 lead to the intermission when Ambler, who had three assists, scored his lone goal with 2:50 left before the break.
     Nick Trizano and Prosser connected one minute and 13 seconds apart early in the third stanza to push their advantage to 9-4. Trizano, a freshman attacker, tallied from right of crease after Ambler set him up from behind the cage. Prosser spun to his left shoulder and fired a shot from the point inside the right post, his fifth of the season.
     UAlbany (0-6) made a run by netting four of the game's next five goals to start the final quarter. Brian Caufield picked up a loose ball and deposited a shot from in front of the crease, before Nate Sullivan hit the net from the middle of the zone with a man-advantage. After Stockel drove around a short-stick midfielder to score from the left side, the Great Danes closed the gap to 10-8 with back-to-back goals by Dave Brock. The senior placed a shot between the goalkeeper's legs in an extra-man situation and then cut to the top of the crease in connecting off Caufield's pass from behind.
     The Dragons, who have won six in a row after opening with a loss to Virginia, regained control down the stretch. Freshman attacker Robert Church hit an empty net with 1:50 remaining after Perri found him against a defensive double-team. Caufield, who scored twice and tied a career-high with six assists, sent a blast into the upper left corner in a one-on-one defensive matchup with less than one minutes to play, but that was as close as his team would get.
     "We gave good effort and played with a sense of urgency in the fourth quarter," said UAlbany coach Scott Marr, whose team is winless after six games for the first time at the Division I level. "We slowed down our pace and shot poorly in the second and third quarters. We're not capitalizing when the defense gets us the ball."
     Both teams came out of the blocks firing in the opening quarter. The Dragons built a 4-2 advantage when Adam Dennis scored from the right wing. UAlbany's Matt Mackenzie won the following face-off and then converted on a give-and-go play with Caufield. Kyle Brunk drew his team even with an extra-man goal from the right point.
     "If you play just 15 or 30 minutes you are not going to win," explained Brock, a senior captain. "We need to put together a whole 60 minutes like we did in the fourth quarter. We just need to get that first win heading into conference play. There is a lot of season ahead of us."
     Drexel goalie Mark Manos, a sophomore who leads the Colonial Athletic Association in save percentage and goals against average, totaled 16 saves. UAlbany's Carroll stopped nine shots.

Paw Prints:  Brian Caufield posted the second-highest scoring total of his career with eight points (2 goals, 6 assists) ... Caufield matched his career-best assists figure and also handed out six against Stony Brook on May 1, 2008 ... Dave Brock scored multiple goals for the sixth time in a UAlbany uniform ... the Great Danes are 27-24 all-time in Division I games decided by two goals or less ... UAlbany met its third national top-20 opponent of the season ... sophomore Joe Resetarits will miss the remainder of the season with a broken foot ... Resetarits led the team in scoring with 13 goals and three assists through the opening five games.

#12 Drexel 11, UAlbany 9 (Mar 21, 2010, John Fallon Field, Albany, N.Y.)