Through the mud and muck of Drexel's rain-drenched field, the men's lacrosse team found it difficult to get its footing. But the Lions did find the goal and a 16-9 win over the Dragons.

"If we had been on grass or turf, it would have been a much higher score," attackman Joel Brous said. "It's just better than being face down in the mud. It was muddy in the crease and behind the net so we fell down a lot. If it had been on turf, I'm sure we would have won more convincingly."

"Because of the weather, we didn't shoot that well," Coach Glenn Thiel said. "On a dry track, we would have been able to blow their goalie right off the field. I think had it been a dry day, we would have been able to show our superiority much quicker Jim Laverty led the Lions through the mud with three goals and one assist. Joel Brous followed with two goals and one assist."We were able to dominate from restraining line to restraining line and get a lot of turnovers," Thiel said. "Our whole first midfield did well as a unit."

Others to score for the Lions were Chris Lehman, Sean Clifton, Scott Bailer, Jeff Verschell, Greg Guarton and Ted Peddy. Thiel said the game was a good chance for a lot of players to get in and work on team depth.

In goal, both the Lions and the Dragons used younger players. Sophomore Jamie Morse started for the Lions for the first time in two weeks and came up with eight saves. Freshman Mike Rana was in goal for the Dragons. Thiel attributed Drexel's 0-2 start to having a freshman in goal. However, Rana made 25 years.

"He was a very big kid and it was tough to shoot around him," Thiel said.

"(Rana) did an OK job," Brous said. "He had the position on us most of the game."

The Lions again dominated in the face-off game. Scott Bailer has been leading the Lions in face-offs all season. He, Chris Marcus and Todd Busza combined to gain 25-of-27 face-offs against the Dragons, Thiel said.

"Our face-off game was excellent," he said. "We just totally dominated possessions at the face-off."