No. 11 Virginia Travels to Drexel on Saturday

Feb. 15, 2018

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –The Virginia men’s lacrosse team returns to action on Saturday as the Cavaliers (1-0) travel to Philadelphia to play Drexel (0-0) in the Dragons’ season opener. Faceoff is set for 1 p.m. UVA is ranked No. 11 this week in the USILA coaches poll and No. 10 in the Inside Lacrosse/Maverick media poll.

Live stats will be available at VirginiaSports.com. There will be a web video stream of the game courtesy of Drexel TV, which can also be accessed at VirginiaSports.com.

The Cavaliers bring a 16-1 all-time record against the Dragons into Saturday’s contest, including an 8-0 mark in Philadelphia. UVA’s lone loss in the series was a season-opening setback to the Dragons on the University Hall Turf Field in 2007, a contest moved out of Klöckner Stadium due to weather.

Despite UVA’s dominant series record, there have been strongly contested matchups in the series beginning with Drexel’s surprising victory in Charlottesville to open the 2007 season. Between 2012 and 2014, UVA won each contest by one goal, including a thrilling 13-12 overtime win at Klöckner Stadium in 2013. UVA won the 2015 game in falling snow at Klöckner Stadium on Valentine’s Day night, 14-10, while winning by seven goals (14-7) in Philadelphia two years ago. Mike D’Amario‘s seven goals and Zed Williams‘ seven points helped UVA outlast Drexel last year at Klöckner Stadium, 18-14.

UVA’s 20-5 win in 2002 was the first meeting with Drexel in more than 50 years. The first meeting of the two schools occurred in 1947, Virginia’s first season following World War II. The Cavaliers gained a 7-2 victory in Philadelphia. Barry Robertson was high man for UVA with four goals, while goalie Bob Catzen registered 12 saves.

Reigning ACC Offensive Player of the Week Ian Laviano leads UVA with five goals and six points. Dox Aitken, Ryan Conrad and Michael Krause share the team lead with two assists, while reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Week Griffin Thompson and faceoff specialist Justin Schwenk lead UVA with six ground balls each. Thompson is saving 55.6 percent of shots between the pipes.

Drexel head coach Brian Voelker is in his ninth season in charge of the Dragons, and returns 30 letterwinners and seven starters off last year’s 6-8 team.

Reid Bowering is Drexel’s leading returning scorer from 2017 with 24 goals and 15 assists for 39 points. Robert Frazee is the next leading returning scorer with 30 points and 23 goals. Drexel loses goalie Jimmy Joe Granito to graduation, while returning the only other goalie to see time in 2017, John Roulston. In four appearances in 2017, Roulston saved 66.7 percent of shots and posted a 25.35 goals against average.

The Cavaliers return to action on Tuesday, Feb. 20 when UVA makes its first-ever trip to High Point. Faceoff between the Cavaliers and Panthers is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed live by the Big South Network.