Dragons Sink Navy
Lose in Semifinals

Friday - February 27th, 2009
Drexel 4 - Navy 1
Drexel moved into the semifinal round of the ESCHL playoffs by defeating Navy 4-1 at Penn State.  After a scoreless first period, Drexel crafted 4 power play goals to scuttle Navy in the opening round of the playoffs.  At the 8:15 minute mark, playmaker Alex Cohen found Andrew Lawrie sneaking in from the point.  Lawrie’s short side one-timer gave Drexel the game’s first lead.  Less than two minutes later, Navy added their own power play goal to knot the game at 1.  Three unanswered Drexel power play goals proved to be the game’s difference.  Bruno Petrillo (Surawiec, Buklarewicz) chipped in a shot from the point at 14:29 and Lawrie (Blazic, Cohen) connected again with just 25 seconds remaining in the second.

Drexel harpooned each Navy advance in the third and Tommy Buklarewicz’s short side torpedo (Bruno) sent Navy sailing back to Annapolis as the Dragons earned the right to face off Saturday vs. Penn State.

Saturday - February 28th, 2009
Penn State 6 - Drexel 2
Looking to upset playoff favorite Penn State, the Dragons jumped to a 1-0 lead at the 6:53 mark as Zak Blazic’s (Zoldy, Buklarewicz) blast from the left circle deflected off Penn State’s goalie and into the net.  The lead was short lived.  Penn State answered with two power play goals and two full strength goals giving the Lions a commanding 4-1 lead at the end of the first period.

Bruno Petrillo (Decker, Buklarewicz) gave Drexel life with a put back late in the second to bring Drexel within two of the power house Lions. Drexel was looking for more as they went on the power play just four seconds after Petrillo’s score.  And the Lion roared once more.  Penn State killed off the penalty and later added another score on a deflection in front, all but killing off any Dragon hope for a comeback.

Penn State added one more in the third period and was content to dump and chase and run out the clock.  Drexel’s season ended one step away from the championship round.  

Game Summary Provided by: C.J. Blazic