The Drexel University women’s soccer team closed out their road trip with a tie Oct. 14 and a loss Oct. 16.

“Playing on the road is always challenging because it takes us out of our comfort zone, our regular routine a bit.  I feel that we’ve done a pretty good job staying focused, but as with most things, we can still do better,” head coach Ray Goon said.

The women battled to a scoreless draw with the Elon University Phoenix in double overtime Oct. 14.

Each team got off four shots in the first half of regulation. After the halftime break, Elon controlled possession but was not able to get past the Dragon defense and junior goalkeeper Christiana Ogunsami.

Drexel had a few opportunities to score towards the end of the second half but couldn’t break through. Sophomore Vanessa Kara got the first opportunity when she beat a defender, but she shot the ball high. She made another attempt shortly after. However, the shot went wide.

With less than eight minutes remaining in regulation time, freshmen Laura Hamilton and Shaelyn McCarty both had strong scoring opportunities, but Phoenix goalie Katelyn Fowler locked down in goal to keep the game scoreless.

Drexel came out strong in the first overtime period and outshot Elon 3-0. However, none of Drexel’s attempts reached the net and the game remained scoreless as a second overtime began. Both teams could not manage a game-winning goal and the final score was 0-0.

“What generally happens as we get further into conference play is that opposing teams have ample opportunities to have scouted us and know our tendencies.  We will need to recognize sooner what is working and what isn’t working, the game will always tell you what you need to do,” coach Goon said.

The Dragons had 16 shots on the day, while the Phoenix had 15. Ogunsami had three saves during the contest, while Fowler registered nine.

The Dragons dropped their second game of the weekend to The College Of William & Mary  in a close 2-1 loss. Kara registered the lone goal for the Dragons, her sixth of the season.

The Tribe scored in the seventh minute to take a 1-0 lead over the Dragons.  They improved their advantage to two goals in the 36th minute of play, and the score remained 2-0 going into halftime.

In the second half, Kara dribbled around the keeper to score scored for the Dragons offan assist from junior Madison Dunn Despite a good effort, the Dragons could not recover from the deficit in the time remaining.

William & Mary took 16 shots while Drexel had 14 attempts.

“All conference games are big, but playing Delaware has a little more meaning behind it. We’re travel partners within the conference and share scouting reports regularly, so in one sense they’re an ally. But on Sunday, they will be viewed as an opponent standing in our way of playoff implications and a chance to play for a CAA Championship, so I know our team will be fired up to play them,” said Coach Goon.

The Dragons record is now 8-6-3, and 4-2-2 in Colonial Athletic Association games.

Drexel’s final regular season game will be at Vidas Field Sunday, Oct. 23, against the University of Delaware.

The Drexel University women’s soccer team took on the College of Charleston Cougars and the University of North Carolina Wilmington Seahawks Oct. 7 at home at Vidas Field.

The Dragons outplayed the Cougars in a strong performance Oct. 7, shutting them out 3-0. Drexel goalkeeper Christiana Ogunsami now has eight shutouts on the season.

The Dragons got on the board in the fifth minute of the game. Sophomore Vanessa Kara scored off a rebounded shot by freshman Joanna Seca. She recovered the rebound and sank the ball into the bottom left corner of the net.

Drexel registered their second goal in the 27th minute of play. Freshman Laura Hamilton scored her first college career goal to give Drexel a two goal advantage. The Dragons would maintain the 2-0 score going into halftime.

Junior Kylie Strong scored the final goal of the contest to give the Dragons a clear victory. Strong scored off of a cross from sophomore Shaelyn McCarty.

The Dragons had a total of 13 shots, while the Cougars had 11. Ogunsami had four saves in the shutout.

The Dragons played their second match of the weekend at home against UNCW Oct 9, which was also Alumni Day. After two overtimes, the teams fought to a 1-1 tie.

At halftime, Drexel presented this year’s Laura Meikle Koch Scholarship Foundation Coaches’ Award. The LMK award was created to honor the memory of Laura Meikle Koch, a former member of the Drexel women’s soccer program who lost her battle with cancer in 2008 at age 28. Junior Wilhelmina Hauch-Fausboll was presented with the award by members of Koch’s family.

The game was scoreless for the first half of play. In the 63rd minute of regulation, Drexel got on the board with a goal registered by McCarty off an assist from Kara. It was McCarty’s sixth goal this season, a team high.

The Drexel defense was able to hold off the Seahawks until the final seconds of regulation. The Seahawks scored off a corner kick with two seconds to play.

After two overtime periods and 110 total minutes of play, neither team could score for a victory.

After the tie, the Dragons moved to 8-5-2 overall and 4-1-1 against Colonial Athletic Association opponents.

The Dragons return to action this weekend on a road trip to Elon University and College of William and Mary to finish out their regular season.

The Drexel University men’s soccer team continued its offensive struggles this week with a 1-0 loss to the University of North Carolina in Wilmington Oct. 1 and a 2-0 loss to Columbia University Oct. 4.

The Dragons have now lost, and been scoreless in, six straight games since the team’s sole victory against Temple University Sept. 13.

Drexel travelled to the Upper West Side Oct. 4 to take on the Columbia Lion’s, which happened to be their third Ivy League opponent of the season.

Early on in the match, the Dragons had some opportunities to strike first. Sophomore Ilai Shvika, Drexel’s leading goal scorer this season, missed a shot high over the crossbar in the 10th minute and subsequently missed a shot wide of the goal post in the eleventh minute.

From that point on, the Lions dominated the first half, taking seven shots without allowing the Dragons to get off an attempt. In the 34th minute, Rhys Williams scored a goal for the Lions off an assist from Dylan Mott to give Columbia a 1-0 lead. The Lions would take their 1-0 lead into halftime.

At the start of the second half, the Dragons had a few good opportunities for an equalizer, but were unable to capitalize.

In the 50th minute, Dragons freshman Eden Ben Hemo saw his shot sail high over the crossbar. Hemo got another chance to score in the 53rd minute, when he headed the ball towards Columbia’s goal off a corner kick from senior Aaron Thompson. However, Hemo’s shot was saved by the Lion’s keeper Dylan Castanheira.

Following Castanheira’s lone save of the match, the Lion’s went on a stretch of play where they attempted five shots before allowing Drexel to attempt one.

Columbia had a golden opportunity to add to their lead in the 70th minute when a yellow card by Drexel’s junior Erik Alexandersson set up a penalty kick for the Lions. However, Drexel’s senior keeper Tyler Afflerbach deflected away Alex Bangerl’s penalty shot for a save. The ball ricocheted to Williams, who attempted a shot for the Lions, but Afflerbach was able to make another great save to preserve the 1-0 score and keep the Dragons in the game.

After freshman Carlos Cuevas and Shvika missed shots wide left of the goal in the 73rd and 75th minutes respectively, Columbia took a 2-0 on a goal by Francisco Agrest in the 78th minute. Agrest’s goal was all the insurance the Lion’s would need as they held the Dragons scoreless for the remainder of the match, en route to a 2-0 victory.

Earlier in the week, the Dragons lost 1-0 at home Oct. 1 to the UNCW Seahawks, who were ranked 24th in the nation heading into the match.

Despite UNCW completely dominating the game in terms of shot attempts by out shooting Drexel 17 to 3, the Dragons were able to hang in with the Seahawks for the majority of the game.

Afflerbach put forth a tremendous effort for the Dragons, saving five shots on the day. In the fourth minute, Afflerbach got his first save of the contest, which also happened to be the 210th of his career and moved him into a tie with Dan McKendry for seventh place on the Drexel career saves list.

His tie with McKendry was broken in the 15th minute when Afflerbach saved a shot that came off the foot of UNCW’s Huntley Munn. Then in the 25th minute, Afflerbach saved a shot by Stian Sandbekkhaug on a breakaway one-on-one opportunity for the Seahawks.

Despite Afflerbach’s superb play, the Dragons were not able to get their offense going. In the 42 minute, Drexel sophomore Armin Efendic’s shot was saved by UNCW keeper Ryan Cretens. It would be Drexel’s only shot on goal of the game. The game went into halftime with both teams scoreless.

UNCW threatened to score in the 64th minute, but were once again denied by a superhuman effort from Afflerbach. Joel Bylander attempted a shot on goal, but had it sent away by afflerbach. Then, a second after Afflerbach deflected Bylander’s shot, Mark Lindstrom struck the ball towards the goal for the Seahawks. However, Afflerbach recovered and denied the Lindstrom shot, which preserved the tie and kept Drexel’s hopes for an upset victory alive.

In the 71st minute, it appeared that the Seahawks had scored the first goal of the game, but after a minute of discussing it, the refs retracted the call and ruled that a UNCW player was offsides.

The Seahawks coaching staff did not appear to agree with the call, but UNCW got a call in their favor when a questionable foul was called on Drexel in the 72nd minute, resulting in a penalty kick.

Julio Moncada attempted the penalty kick for UNCW. Afflerbach guessed left, but Moncada struck the ball to the right and converted to give UNCW a 1-0 lead. The Dragons had no answer to Moncada’s goal, and the score remained 1-0 until the final whistle blew.

With the two losses, the Dragons are now 1-8-2 on the season and 0-3-0 in Colonial Athletic Association matches.

Next up for the Dragons is a road match with the College of Charleston Oct. 8.

The Drexel University women’s soccer team split their games Sept. 23 and 25, in their first two conference matchups.

“I think our team competed well in the first weekend of Colonial Athletic Association play. Friday night the team was really in sync and in a good rhythm and the result confirmed this. Sunday was a typical conference second-leg contest. We were really, really unlucky with the way the ball bounced, but I believe that if we continue to work and play at this level, those things will even out,” said head coach Ray Goon.

The Dragons defeated the Hofstra University Pride at home Sept. 23. They picked up their first conference win with a 3-0 victory. Wilhelmina Hauch-Fausboll, Vanessa Kara, and Shaelyn McCarty each contributed a goal in the win.

Drexel got on the board early in the ninth minute of play when Hauch-Fausboll headed the ball off a corner kick for her first goal of the season.

Kara improved the Dragon’s advantage to 2. She scored on a one-on-one with the goalie, firing the ball into the top left corner of the net and giving Drexel a 2-0 going into halftime.

After the halftime break, Hofstra came out with a strong effort and had opportunities to score, but Drexel held them to no goals.

In the 68th minute of regulation, McCarty scored the third Dragon goal. McCarty took advantage of a weak clearance from a Hofstra defender and took the ball down the field for a breakaway sinking. She sank the ball into the top right corner of the goal.

The Pride could not come back in the remaining time and the Dragons secured their first CAA victory of the season.

The Dragons had 18 shots on goal, while the Pride had 17. Drexel goalie Christina Ogunsami had six saves on the day and now has five shutouts on the season.

The Dragons lost 1-0 in their second CAA matchup of the season on Sunday Sept. 25 in a tough overtime battle with the Northeastern University Huskies. Northeastern won the game off a penalty kick.

Despite both teams being held scoreless, the Huskies controlled the pace of play during the first half. Drexel had a solid chance to take a first half lead when Kara fired a shot that hit the post in the 40th minute. The rebound was recovered by McCarty whose shot hit the crossbar.

After halftime, Northeastern nearly scored with a shot that bounced off the crossbar.

As time expired in regulation, the game went to an overtime period. The Dragons were called for a handball penalty in the box, leading to a penalty kick. The Huskies scored off the penalty kick for a sudden victory.

The Dragons had 12 shots in the losing effort, while the Huskies had 17. Ogunsami had 10 saves in the game, a career high.

With the loss, the Dragons fell to 5-5-1 overall and 1-1 in the conference.

“To be competitive in the CAA you need to be able to perform well while away from the friendly confines of your home field. As I stated earlier, we’re competing well, so we will focus on just fine-tuning some things from this past weekend in preparation of our first conference road swing,” coach Goon Said.

Drexel will go on the road this weekend to continue CAA action with a visit to James Madison University Sept. 30 and Towson University Oct. 2.

The Drexel University women’s soccer team tied with the University of Pennsylvania Quakers Sept. 18 after 110 minutes of play. The University City rivals battled through double overtime at Rhodes Field.

Throughout regulation, Drexel and Penn were evenly matched. Drexel registered 10 shots while Penn had nine.

The Dragons had their best chance at scoring with seven minutes left in regular time. Vanessa Kara and Madison Dunn combined for three shots in a rapid fire against the Quaker goalie Kitty Qu and defense in a span of under a minute. Penn’s defense blocked the first two shots and Qu saved the third effort, a shot from Dunn.

Within the first minute of the first overtime period, Penn’s Sasha Stephens fired a shot that hit the crossbar coming very close to scoring.

In the second overtime, the Dragons got another chance to win the game. In the final minute of play, Kara directed two strong shots on goal. The first shot went off the crossbar and the second shot was recovered by Qu.

The Dragons and Quakers both had 12 shots throughout the game. Drexel goalkeeper Christiana Ogunsami had seven saves in the draw, while Penn’s Qu had six. The shutout is Ogunsami’s fourth of the season.

With the draw, the Dragons record moved to 4-4-1 on the season, while the tie made the Quakers 4-1-1.

Drexel will return to Vidas Field when they host the Hofstra University Pride to open Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the Colonial Athletic Conference.

Varsity sports are back in action at Drexel University after the summer quarter hiatus. The Drexel University women’s soccer team has started the season strong by going 2-0 in their first two games.

The Dragons defeated their local rival, the Temple University Owls, at the Temple Sports Complex Friday, Aug. 19  by one point, with a score of 2-1. Shaelyn McCarty and Madison Dunn scored for Drexel.

Drexel got on the board first with a goal from McCarty in the 16th minute of play. McCarty headed the ball into the goal with an assist from Vanessa Kara.

The Owls held Drexel to a 1-0 lead until just over three minutes later when the Dragons scored their second goal of the match. Dunn scored an unassisted goal off a corner kick to improve the Dragons advantage by another goal, going into halftime.

Temple scored their only goal of the game in the 59th minute of regulation. Drexel’s junior goalie Christina Ogunsami allowed one goal in the match and had five saves. She made a crucial save to maintain Drexel’s lead with just over 18 minutes to play and made another important save off of a Temple penalty kick.

The Dragons were able to hold off the Owls to finish with a victory.

The team earned their second win of the season over Villanova University Sunday, Aug. 21. Drexel shut out the Wildcats 3-0 on the road.

McCarty, and Kara each scored one goal along with sophomore Kiera Hennessy., and Kara scored one goal apiece.

The Dragons came out strong early, getting on the board in the 7th minute of play. McCarty scored off a corner from Kylie Strong.

Drexel would go into the halftime break with a 1-0 lead after an impressive first-half performance from the Dragon’s defense.

In the 71st minute, Drexel extended its advantage. Hennessy registered her goal off a corner kick, this one from Joanna Seca.

The Dragon’s final goal of the game was scored with just over 12 minutes remaining. Kara scored an unassisted goal.

Villanova could not overcome the three goal deficit. Ogunsami had six saves in the winning effort.

Drexel will return to action when they welcome La Salle University for its home opener at Vidas Field at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

The National Football League fiasco known as Deflategate finally came to a close July 15, when Tom Brady announced via his Facebook page that he would be accepting the four game suspension.

Deflategate began Jan. 18, 2015, when reports arose that questioned the use of “deflated footballs” in the Patriots AFC Championship victory versus the Indianapolis Colts.

The NFL then appointed Ted Wells to investigate the situation. The Ted Wells report found that “it is more probable than not” that Jim McNally and John Jastremski, two Patriots staff members, participated in deflating balls and that “it is more probable than not” that Tom Brady was aware of the activities.

Based on these findings, the NFL announced Tom Brady has been suspended without pay for four games for violating the NFL policy on the integrity of the game and the Patriots would be fined $1 million and will forfeit a 2016 first round and 2017 fourth round selection in the NFL Draft.

The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) filed an appeal on Tom Brady’s behalf to fight his punishment. This marked the beginning of over a year of back and forth appeals, briefs, trials and hearings between the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFLPA and Tom Brady.

Following a denial of Brady and the NFLPA’s petition for the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear his suspension case, taking the case to the U.S. Supreme Court became Brady’s last chance to revoke the punishment he faced.

The court decided in favor of the NFL. The majority opinion stated: “We hold that the commissioner properly exercised his broad discretion under the collective bargaining agreement and that his procedural rulings were properly grounded in that agreement and did not deprive Brady of fundamental fairness.”  The ruling also emphasized that the court’s decision was more about upholding the power of the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and ensuring that Goodell did not overstep his authority as commissioner.

The case Brady v. NFL is clearly not about deflated footballs. It is about the power of the commissioner, the implications of the CBA and fairness towards players.

Brady’s suspension details were released last week. The provisions include: no contact with any member of the Patriots’ coaching staff, no contact with other players and no football communication with the club. Brady can’t “engage in any team football-related activities or discussions with teammates, even if away from the club facility.”

The looming questions remains as to whether Goodell exercised his authority granted by the CBA in an appropriate manner. However, Brady has lost this case and will only be eligible to return to play Oct. 9 against the Cleveland Browns.

Flickr JD Lasica

Twelve-time Olympic medalist Natalie Coughlin failed to qualify for her fourth Olympic Games in the qualifiers held in Omaha, Nebraska July 1.

At some point in their careers, all athletes come face-to-face with the end of their peak performance period. However, for Olympic athletes, the decision to retire from Olympic competitions is not always one made by choice. Sometimes something as small as a tenth-of-a-second in a trial run can end their Olympics career.

Coughlin’s hopes of making her fourth Olympic Games ended at age 33.

During training for the Rio Olympics, Coughlin’s times and performance seemed good enough for her to qualify. She swam the 100-meter backstroke in 1 minute 46 seconds which landed her in eighth place June 28. She won gold at the Olympics in this event in 2004 and 2008.

She followed with an event on June 30, swimming the 100-meter freestyle in 54.87 seconds earning her a fifth place finish. She failed to advance to finals in an event that she had performed so well in, just seven months prior.

“I just didn’t have it for these trials. It’s … just heartbreaking,” Coughlin said.

Although she will continue to compete, exclusion from these Olympics will provide her the chance to focus on life outside of the pool, including raising her baby girl and focusing on hobbies that she enjoys.

In her 33 years, Coughlin has had various athletic accomplishments and has influenced many young women. Aside from her athletic achievements, she has appeared on “Dancing with the Stars,” written a book and been on the cover of many magazines, most notably the 2015 ESPN Body Issue.

As one of the most decorated female Olympic swimmers, Coughlin will be cheering for her team during the 2016 Olympics as they continue on without her.

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With the 2016 Euro Cup well underway, there are a few teams that have shocked the world with their performances thus far — among them are Albania and Wales.

The 2016 Euro Cup marks the first international football tournament appearance for the Albanian national team. The team qualified for the tournament in October of 2015 in a 3-0 victory over Armenia.

Albania suffered for years under a dictatorship as a destitute country. Its football team reflected this unfortunate state of the country as the team was never a threat in the international world of soccer. Just qualifying for the Euro Cup lifted the spirits of Albanians across the country.

In 2011, the Albanian teamed hired Gianni De Biasi, an Italian soccer coach. Since then, De Biasi has only done positive things for the Albanian team and continues to improve.

Albania’s qualifying group for the tournament consisted of Portugal, Denmark, Armenia, and Serbia. The Albanians began with an upset in a 1-0 win over Portugal. They moved on to tie with Denmark at home. That match was followed by a game against Serbia, Albania’s biggest rival. The match had to be cancelled because of violence caused by the emotional fans. A Court of Arbitration for Sport was called in for a decision. The Court ruled that the Serbs’ violence caused the cancellation as they over reacted to a pro-Albanian flag being flown above the stadium. Therefore, Albania was awarded a 3-0 win. Albania would go on to lose the following match to Serbia in a 2-0 defeat at home. Albania won one of their four remaining games and with perseverance and hard work made it to the Euro Cup.

The Albanian people are standing unified with pride rooting for the team that represents their country.

Albania was in third place in Group A among France, Switzerland, and Romania, but was knocked out of the Euro Cup 2016 on June 23. Regardless of the loss, they have won hearts across Europe with their extraordinary run.

Wales is another team staging an impressive performance. The Euro Cup 2016 is the Wales football team’s first international tournament since the FIFA World Cup in 1958.

On June 20, Wales upset Russia with a 3-0 victory. The win secured them a top spot in Group B, atop England, Slovakia, and Russia.

Welsh Gareth Bale, who plays for Spanish club Real Madrid, has netted three goals in three matches, the most goals among all players in the tournament.

Wales will be facing the third place team of either group A, C, or D in the next round.

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Photo courtesy Drexeldragons.com

The Drexel University women’s lacrosse team split its weekend matchups. The Dragons defeated the University of Delaware Blue Hens on the road April 15 and fell to the Towson University Tigers at home April 17.

The Dragons are now 9-5 overall and 2-2 in conference games.

“On any given night we need someone different to step up, and I’m excited to see who on our team will really own that mentality throughout the next couple games,” Coach Hannah Rudloff said.

The Dragons pulled off an impressive win in Delaware, seeing victory in Newark for the first time since 2012. The final score was 6-4.

Sophomore Nadia Pelham-Lacey and junior Devin Nihill scored a combined five goals during the contest.

Drexel got on the board first and scored four unanswered goals. They went into halftime with a 4-1 lead.

In the second half, the Blue Hens came out strong and scored three goals to tie the game up in less than 15 minutes. However, the Dragons responded and Pelham-Lacey scored a pair of goals to give Drexel the win.

Junior Carlee Ries had six saves on the day. Drexel won four of the 12 draw controls and only caused two turnovers. The Dragons picked up eight ground balls and acted as a defensive stronghold by only allowing 15 total shots.

The Dragons returned home April 17 to host the Towson Tigers. The Tigers defeated the Dragons 13-6.

“Towson is a great team, and we did a good job containing them in the first half. We definitely needed to be tougher against their fast breaks, and that’s something we will be focusing on going forward,” Coach Rudloff commented on the team’s defensive performance against Towson.

Nihill had two goals to lead the Dragons in scoring for the day. Pelham-Lacey, junior Lacey Aghazarian, freshman Grace Osterdale and freshman Maggie Stetson each had a goal apiece in the loss. Nihill became the first Dragon to tie Alyse Maiden’s 2013 record, scoring 30 goals in a season.

Aghazarian, scoring her 18th goal of the season, put the Dragons on the board first off a forced turnover from the opening draw.

The Tigers responded with four unanswered goals and led 6-2 going into the halftime break.

In the second half, Nihill appeared to have scored again. However, the play was ruled a no goal due to a dangerous shot call. The Tigers capitalized on the yellow card to bring the score to 7-2.

Drexel fought back with three goals of their own, while only allowing one. The score was 8-5 with just under 20 minutes to play.

The Tigers went on a final run and the Dragons could not overcome the goal deficit.

Drexel will return to action when they face off against Elon University. “Elon is a strong team this year, and we have plenty to prepare for on both the offensive and defensive ends,” Coach Rudloff said.

The Dragons will host the Phoenix on Friday, April 22 at Vidas Field.

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