Ranger Brett Spafford (‘24) scored the game-winning goal with 26 seconds left in overtime and Craig Wilkie (‘23) scored a pair of late goals to force the extra session as the Drew University men’s lacrosse team rallied for an 11-10 non-conference victory over Manhattanville College in Ranger Stadium on Tuesday, April 5. The Rangers (7-4) walked away with their first OT victory since their 14-13 win at Goucher in the final game of the 2019 season.
The Rangers came out hot offensively, outscoring the visitors 5-1 to open the game, with five different players scoring for Drew. The Valiants came back with a 5-0 run to assume a 6-5 lead with 3:20 left before halftime. Wilkie stopped the surge when he scored with 1:10 left to make it a 6-6 game at the intermission.
Manhattanville answered with the first two goals of the second half to go up 8-6 lead with 6:58 left in the third quarter. But Mike DeMayo (‘25) answered with two of his own to tie the game at 8-all with 6:58 remaining in the period. The Valiants pushed in front one final time, scoring back-to-back tallies late in the third quarter to make it 10-8. But that’s when the Rangers dug in defensively and blocked the visitors over the final 20 minutes.
Neither side would manage a goal in the fourth quarter until Wilkie struck with 7:56 left. Wilkie finished the game with four goals and helped Drew erase a two-goal deficit in the fourth quarter, scoring twice in less than a minute to make it 10-10 with 6:59 remaining. His final tally of the night also marked his 100th career point in just the 22nd game of his career.
DeMayo added three goals and one assist for the Rangers while Tommy Larmore (‘23) finished with one goal and two assists, one of them being the game winning goal. GJ Nazziola (‘24) won 18-of-23 faceoffs and picked up 10 ground balls, and Jack Tynan (‘22) notched five ground balls and three caused turnovers.
Yoel Ovadya (‘23) played the final 37 minutes in goal for Drew and finished with six saves while allowing just four goals. Anthony Tufaro (’22) started in net and turned aside four shots over the opening 23 minutes.
Drew returns to Landmark Conference action on Saturday, April 9 when it hosts Juniata at 1 p.m.
