Men's Lacrosse Welcomes Drexel

LIVE STATS AND STREAM... Sunday's game will have live video and live stats available through friars.com

SERIES BREAKDOWN - PROVIDENCE VS. DREXEL... The Friars are 1-2 all-time against the Dragons. Last season, the Friars fell, 11-10, in a double-overtime battle. Providence found success on the man-advantage in that game, going 3-for-4. Nine different Friars accounted for the 10 goals and Tate Boyce (Matthews, N.C.) made 11 saves.

EXPLOSIVE EFFORT AT UMASS LOWELL... The Friars earned their largest margin of victory since 2014 with a 14-4 win over the River Hawks on Tuesday (March 19). Nick Hatzipetrakos (Syosset, N.Y.) and Brendan Kearns (Wantagh, N.Y.) led the team offensively with four points apiece. Matt Grillo (Setauket, N.Y.), Ryan Nawrocki (Smithtown, N.Y.) and Dan Axelson (Cohasset, Mass.) each had three points. The Friars went 1-for-1 on extra-man opportunities in the game.

HOT START FUELS WIN AT HOFSTRA... The Friars jumped out to a 5-0 lead at Hofstra and eventually came away with an 11-10 victory in New York. Nick Hatzipetrakos and Dan Axelson each scored four goals in the win. Tate Boyce made 16 saves in helping the Friars improve to 3-4 on the year. Colin Keating (Ridgewood, N.J.) took a season-high 17 face-offs in the game, posting a .588 win percentage at the 'X.'

HATZ TRICK... After being held scoreless on opening day against BU, Nick Hatzipetrakos has posted seven-straight games with three or more goals. He has a total of 25 goals, which is already the highest season total of his career. The attackman has had four games with four goals this season. Hatzipetrakos has 74 goals and 23 assists in his career for 97 total points. On March 11, he was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for his performance at Harvard.

Head Coach Chris Gabrielli named Hatzipetrakos an additional team captain on March 12. He joins Boyce, Nick Crews (Longmeadow, Mass.), Kearns and David Procopio (Syracuse, N.Y.).

Hatzipetrakos ranks 20th nationally and third in the BIG EAST in goals per game (3.13). He is also second in the BIG EAST in shot percentage (.490).

ONE GOAL GAMES... Four of the Friars' seven games this season have been decided by just one goal, including three of the last four contests.

LOCK DOWN DEFENSE... Providence ranks sixth nationally in scoring defense, allowing 8.63 goals per game.

BOYCE CONTINUES IMPRESSIVE CAREER... Boyce, a three-time All-BIG EAST First Team selection, was recently named to the Tewaaraton Watch List for the second-consecutive season (Feb. 28). He was then named one of 30 candidates for the prestigous Senior CLASS Award (March 4). The goalkeeper has already had a storied career in Friartown, including being named BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year and a USILA/Nike Third-Team All-American in 2017. For his career, Boyce holds a 9.35 goals against average, a .547 save percentage and has accumulated 621 total saves.

So far this season Boyce has a 8.85 goals against average (eighth in the nation) and a .585 save percentage (seventh in the nation). He's the BIG EAST leader in save percentage and saves per game, averaging 12.00, and has been named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week twice (Feb. 25, Mar. 19).

AXELSON'S FIRST MULTI-GOAL GAME... Dan Axelson has scored seven goals over the last two games, pushing his career total to eight goals. The junior midfielder was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll and to the USILA DI Team of the Week after his four-goal performance at Hofstra (March 19).

ROMEO LEADS AT THE 'X'... Junior RJ Romeo is 52-of-103 (.505) from the face-off 'X'. He leads the team in both attempts and face-off percentage. He ranks sixth in the BIG EAST in ground balls per game (4.13) and is fifth in face-off winning percentage.

HINRICHS AND NAWROCKI DISH... Juniors Tim Hinrichs (Amherst, N.H.) and Ryan Nawrocki lead the Friars in assists. Hinrichs, who ranks sixth in the BIG EAST in assists per game, has 12. Nawrocki, who is ninth in assists per game, has 11 so far this season.

GRILLO GETS GOING... Freshman Matt Grillo has had a strong start to his rookie campaign, starting seven of eight contests. He is third on the team in points (21) and goals (13) and tied for third in assists (eight). He was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Feb. 25 after a seven-point performance at St. Joseph's.

WHERE KEARNS RANKS... Last year, senior Brendan Kearns became the 22nd player in program history to reach the 100-point mark. He currently has 82 goals and 49 assists for 131 total points. He is 11th all-time in points and goals and tied for 14th in all-time assists.

Kearns is second on the team in points (23) and goals (15). He's been named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll twice already this season (Feb. 11 and March 4).

FRIARS PICKED TO FINISH FIFTH IN BIG EAST POLL... Providence was picked to finish fifth in the 2019 BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll with a total of 10 points. Denver was picked to win the league, having collected four first-place votes and 25 points overall. Marquette (18 points) was picked to finish second and Georgetown (17 points), who received one first place vote, was picked third.

TWO FRIARS EARN PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST SPOTS... It was announced by the league on Wednesday, Jan. 23 that Providence College men's lacrosse players Tate Boyce and Alex George (Simsbury, Conn.) were named to the 2019 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. Boyce, who has now been on the squad for three-consecutive seasons, was a unanimous selection.

SCOUTING DREXEL.. The Dragons enter the game with a 3-4 overall record. Drexel has faced three nationally-ranked opponents, including No. 11 Villanova (March 10) and No. 14 Georgetown (March 16). The Dragons defeated the Wildcats (15-10), but fell to the Hoyas (13-10). Drexel ranks ninth nationally in ground balls per game (36.71) and eighth in man-up offense, converting on .462 percent of chances.

PLAYERS TO WATCH... Three Dragons have eclipsed the 20-point mark so far this season. Reid Bowering leads the team in goals (22) and total points (25). His shot percentage (.524) is ranked ninth nationally. Senior Marshal King has 24 points on 10 goals and a team-leading 14 assists. Matthew Varian has 14 goals and eight assists for 22 points. Jimmeh Koita has taken 191 face-offs and holds a .529 win percentage from the 'X.' He ranks seventh nationally in ground balls per game (9.00).

Three different goalkeepers have made at least two starts in net for the Dragons this season. Ross Blumenthal leads in minutes (180:00), saves (27) and save percentage (.474).

WHAT'S NEXT... The Friars open BIG EAST play at St. John's on Saturday, March 30. The game is set for 1:00 p.m. in Jamaica, N.Y.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Dan Axelson

Tate Boyce

Nick Crews

Alex George

Matt Grillo

Nick Hatzipetrakos

Tim Hinrichs

Brendan Kearns

Colin Keating

Ryan Nawrocki

David Procopio

RJ Romeo

Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse at RV/#19 Fairfield on March 1, 2025 , Loss , 7, to, 15

Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse versus Loyola (Md.) on March 8, 2025 , Win , 12, to, 11

Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse at #6/#8 Duke on March 12, 2025 , Loss , 10, to, 16

Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse at #18/#19 Saint Joseph's on March 22, 2025 , Loss , 8, to, 16

Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse at #17/#15 Georgetown on March 29, 2025 , Loss , 13, to, 14

Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse versus Villanova on April 5, 2025 , Loss , 8, to, 11

Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse versus Marquette on April 12, 2025 , Win , 14, to, 2

Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse at #16/#16 Denver on April 19, 2025 , Win , 10, to, 6

Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse versus St. John's on April 25, 2025 , Win , 16, to, 10

Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse versus No. 2 Villanova on May 1, 2025 , Loss , 14, to, 16

Providence College Athletics