Final Stats

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Anchored by the four goal performance from freshman Danny Seibel, Villanova (2-1) registered their second-straight win of the season with a 14-11 victory over Drexel (0-3) on Tuesday afternoon. The result marked the 20th win in program history over the Dragons in the longest running rivalry in the Wildcats record book.

The Wildcats long possessions helped secure the win on another extremely chilly February matchup where temperatures dipped into the single digits with wind chill. Seibel recorded his third-straight hat trick in as many games for a terrific start to his career on the Main Line while juniors Johnny Gallaway (Middletown, Md.) and Jack Curran (Fair Haven, N.J.) also recorded three goals apiece on the afternoon. Nine players contributed points for the all-around team win.

"I thought it was a good team win especially with it being our first road game with a lot of freshmen," said head coach Mike Corrado. "Our goalies played well and our upperclassmen really led the way. Drexel is always a tough opponent and getting a win down at their place isn't something we take lightly."

With the game tied at 10-10 going into the fourth quarter, Villanova notched four unanswered scores to begin the final stanza to open a sizeable 14-10 lead with under a minute left in regulation. A last-second goal by Drexel finalized the contest, 14-11.

"We told the kids when Drexel came back to tie it at 10-10 that it was a new 15 minute game. Nothing special. We needed to make the simple plays and we did that."

The game-changer occurred in the fourth quarter when Villanova found themselves down two men for unnecessary roughness and unsportsmanlike conduct with 10:11 on the clock. The Wildcat defense stifled three shots on goal by Drexel during the EMO to kill the penalty and effectively changed the momentum of the contest.

Villanova dominated the first half of action and held a 4-3 advantage after the first quarter and increased that lead to 7-4 at intermission following goals from Seibel, Gallaway, Eric Gartner (Great Valley, Pa.), Charlie Horning (Laytonsville, Md.) and Harry DellaFera (Locust Valley, N.Y.).

Drexel went on to outscore the visitors by a 6-3 margin in the third period and came back from a four-goal deficit with 26 seconds remaining in the stanza. Despite the run and having momentum on their side, Villanova responded in the final 15 minutes of play with four unanswered goals of their own to end the contest.

Villanova goalkeepers Greg Stamatov (Foxboro, Mass.) and Dan Willis (Moorestown, N.J.) combined for 12 saves on the afternoon with Stamatov getting the win. Drexel's Will Gabrielsen and Cal Winkelman tallied eight saves in the loss while the Dragons were led by Ryan Belka's one goal and five assists for six points.

Villanova was outshot in the contest by a 44-34 margin and also faced a sizeable deficit on faceoff's winning just 7-of-28 attempts. Turnovers were credited at 15 for each side.

The Wildcats return to action in just a few short days when they host Delaware on Saturday, February 28th. Game time is slated for noon at Villanova Stadium.