Villanova erased a three-goal deficit in the final minutes of regulation and defeated Drexel 13-12 in a double-overtime thriller Tuesday night in Philadelphia.
Drexel grabbed the lead midway through the first quarter and appeared on its way to the win when attackman Conor Hooley scored his third goal of the game to make it 12-9 with 5:31 remaining.
But Villanova countered with a long-pole goal by Stephen Zupicich assisted by attackman Matt Licata just 27 seconds later and Licata scored unassisted with 2:25 left to pull the Wildcats within one.
The Dragons won the next faceoff, but Wildcats midfielder Sam Parkinson stripped Drexel midfielder Luke Tomak to give Villanova the final possession. After Dragons goalie Drew McGill made a save on Wildcats attackman Luke Raymond, he gave it back to the Villanova on a turnover.
Midfielder Mason Reale connected on a pass to midfielder Tyler Boes, who scored to tie the game with just nine seconds remaining.
Both teams committed turnovers in the first overtime. They combined for 39 miscues on the night.
Justin Coppola (19-for-27) won the faceoff to start the second overtime and this time the Wildcats made it count. Reale dodged down the left alley and fed attackman Thomas McIntire curling around from behind the goal. McIntire bounced the ball between McGill’s legs for the game-winning goal.
Licata (three goals, two assists) and Reale (one goal, four assists) led Villanova with five points apiece. Hooley (three goals, three assists) and Tomak (four goals, two assists) tied for game-high honors with six points apiece in the Drexel loss. Both teams are 3-2 this season.
Also Tuesday:
Freshman sensation McCabe Millon scored three goals in the first two minutes and Virginia was off the races. The No. 6-ranked Cavaliers responded to their first loss of the season against Johns Hopkins with a resounding 16-7 victory over visiting Robert Morris. Millon finished with four goals and three assists in just three quarters of play.
No. 10 Georgetown made it four straight wins since its 0-2 start, blanking High Point for the final 25 minutes and scoring eighth unanswered goals to defeat the Panthers 14-8. Aidan Carroll scored a game-high four goals and Alexander Vardaro scored three of the Hoyas’ six goals in the decisive fourth quarter. James Ball won 17 of 23 faceoffs and goalie Anderson Moore made an incredible save on a rebound on the doorstep when Georgetown was trailing.
Matthew Keegan scored his fifth goal with 17 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime and Liam Ferris won it for Binghamton, which kept Mount St. Mary’s winless with a 13-12 triumph in Emmitsburg, Md.
Jack Horrigan scored six goals to lead Providence to a 17-10 win over Merrimack.
No. 16 Rutgers dominated Detroit Mercy 17-5 in its lone midweek game of the season. The Scarlet Knights host Princeton on Sunday.
