Sophomore defender Abbey Romano boots a ball out of the zone during the first half of the draw against UD. (Ken Chaney – The Triangle)

The Drexel Dragons women’s soccer team fought hard to achieve a scoreless tie against Colonial Athletic Association rival University of Delaware Oct. 4 at Vidas Field.

In the first half the Dragons dominated the Blue Hens with seven to one shots, respectively.

During the 25th minute of play, senior Melissa Chapman tried for a header off a corner kick, but the shot went high. Minutes later, Gabby Dixon shook her defender and got off a shot in the box that was knocked down by a Delaware defender and did not reach the net. Seconds after, Dixon sent another shot towards the goal but the Delaware defense prevailed again and keeper Kailyn Rekos stopped the ball. The Dragons and Blue Hens went into the half tied at zero.

Play during the second half was much more balanced with each team delivering seven shots. In addition, both teams had several opportunities to capitalize off corner kicks. The Blue Hens had six corner kick attempts and the Dragons had eight. Despite these chances, no goals were scored in regulation time and the game went into overtime.

Delaware took possession of the ball promptly and within 33 seconds, Blue Hen Andrea Arnold brought the ball down to Drexel’s goal. Arnold’s shot was contested by the Dragon defense, resulting in a corner kick, followed by a wide shot from Delaware’s Natalie Zelenky.

Drexel gained possession and pressured the Delaware defense allowing Megan Hammaker to take a shot which was followed by an attempt by Civanni Moss.

The Blue Hens regained possession and fired two shots that were saved by Drexel goalkeeper Kelsie Fye. In the 96th minute, Delaware’s Maddy Parker delivered a shot which was saved by Fye. Seconds later, Fye made another crucial save when Delaware’s Rachel Vaccaro delivered a strong shot. The game proceeded into double overtime as neither team was able to get on the board.

Drexel had two attempts in the second overtime but failed to score. The game finally ended after 110 minutes in a scoreless draw.

This game extends Drexel’s unbeaten streak to six games and shutout streak to five games. Drexel’s keeper Fye had seven saves in the game and has passed Kaitlin Bond for consecutive minutes without allowing a goal.

The record held by Bond was for 505 minutes; Fye has not allowed a goal for 549 consecutive minutes of play.

“I feel more than honored to have passed Kaitlin Bond’s record,” Fye said. “It’s very hard work to keep shutouts during games and I couldn’t have done it without my team, especially the defenders. They are all very hardworking players and always put in so much effort to do what’s best for the team. I look forward to hopefully continuing to keep up the shutouts and do my best to help get my team to the CAA playoffs.”

Overall, Drexel tallied 19 shots, while Delaware had 13. The tie makes Drexel’s record 5-5-2 and Delaware’s record 6-5-1. Both teams have a 2-0-1 record within the conference.

Regarding the upcoming games, Fye said that the defensive strategy will not change considerably.

“We always want to be sharp going into every game. We try to counteract the strengths of our opponents and try to transition into the attack as quickly and sufficiently as possible. The basis of defense is working hard and putting all the effort in and so far we have excelled in every single game,” she said.

The Dragons go on the road for their next two games to face conference opponents. Drexel travels to Elon University for a game Oct. 10 and then to The College of William & Mary for a game Oct. 12.

Junior midfielder Civanni Moss attempts to dribble passed a University of North Carolina Wilmington defender during a 1-0 victory over the Seahawks Sept 28. The victory was the fourth straight for the streaking Dragons team. (Ajon Brodie The Triangle)

The Drexel women’s soccer team is officially rolling.

They earned two conference wins against the College of Charleston and the University of North Carolina Wilmington, extending their winning streak to four games and improving their record to 2-0 in the conference.

“The team is feeling pretty good after starting off conference play with two wins. The shutouts emphasize the importance of defense. You won’t lose a game if you don’t get scored on, but we also understand that you won’t win if you don’t score,” head coach Ray Goon said.

In the victory over the College of Charleston, junior Lauren Stollar scored the only goal of the game to secure a win for Drexel.

Stollar scored in the 34th minute of game when she delivered a corner kick into the box toward Madison Dunn. Dunn shot but her attempt was saved by Cougar goalkeeper Lauren Killian. Sam Greenfield received the rebound off the save and passed the ball to Stollar to set up a play, giving Stollar her third goal on the season.
Later in the game, Drexel’s defense came through when Charleston had an opportunity to get on the board and tie the game. With just about six minutes left in the game, Drexel fouled, giving the Cougars a dangerous-looking free kick. Charleston’s Nicole Koretsky kicked the ball towards the net but a barrier of Drexel defenders blocked it. As time expired, the Dragons were able to hold on to their one goal lead and win the game.

In her third straight shutout, Drexel keeper Kelsie Fye had five saves. Overall, the Dragons had 23 shots while the Cougars had 11.

Just two days later the Dragons secured another conference victory over the UNCW Seahawks.

Both teams displayed a strong defense in the first half with the game remaining scoreless until the later part, even though UNCW recorded seven shots and Drexel recorded six in the first half.

The only goal of the game came in the 78th minute when Alyssa Findlay passed the ball to Melissa Chapman inside the box. Chapman then headed the ball into the left side of the net. The goal was Chapman’s second of the season.

The Seahawks outshot the Dragons 14-9. Fye had six saves and has now not been scored on for 439 minutes.
As for moving forward, Goon said that the team will be working on different formations, tactics, and situations.

“What we are really focusing on is being aware of what is needed on this particular day [or game] and executing it to the best of our abilities.”

Regarding preparation for the upcoming game against the rival University of Delaware, he stated, “It’s conference time and it’s Delaware … so I won’t have to worry about motivation.”

The team will continue interconference play Oct. 4 at Vidas Field at 1 p.m., when they host Delaware and look for their third straight conference win.