The last time the Drexel University’s men’s swimming and diving team took to the diving blocks, the results they saw were a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, despite a somewhat depleted roster due to injuries, several individuals stepped up to score crucial points. On the other, these performances were not enough to secure a win for the Dragons, as their competitors, La Salle University, managed to walk away with the victory.

Despite the disappointing start to their season, the men took the loss on the chin and prepared themselves for their home opener against visiting Seton Hall University Oct. 27, who were further along in their season and had alternated wins and losses before being hosted at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

The Drexel University women’s swimming and diving team saw a much better start to their season, making short work of La Salle when they visited the Explorers Oct. 20. The women’s roster was at full strength during their domination, so it was expected they bring the same energy against Seton Hall.

And bring it they did. The women started off their day with the 400-yard medley relay, which they swept with relative ease. The winning team, which finished with a time of 3:52.59 was composed of senior April Forsthoffer, juniors Kaitlin Perni and Alexa Kutch, and sophomore Gabrielle Rudy. The second place team was made up of senior Charlotte Myers, juniors Alicia Diaz and Hollie Hopf, and freshman Megan Sicinski, coming in at 3:57.01.

The women’s freestyle specialists were especially effective against Seton Hall on the day. Senior Niki Fistrovic pushed herself to a third place finish in the 1000-yard free with a time of 10:50.17, while sophomore Natalie Gundling took second in the 200-yard free with a 1:56.53 time. On the heels of Gundling was her junior teammate Dora Gercsak, who took third in the event with 2:00.20. The 100-yard free saw Gundling take second at the 54.28 mark, while Perni touched the wall in 55.74 to hold onto third. In the 50-yard free, Hopf swam to a second place finish and a 25.10 time.

Taking the top two positions in the 200-yard breaststroke were Kutch and Diaz, who finished in first and second, respectively. Kutch’s time of 56.23 earned her the victory, while Diaz was alongside her for the duration of the race, finishing in 57.87.

The Dragons fleshed out the highest marks in the 100-yard breaststroke, with Rudy earning herself the top spot on the podium in 1:04.48. Sicinski closed in on second place two seconds later and senior Sarah Cahill edged out her competition to complete the sweep of the top three. Drexel managed to impress in the 200-yard butterfly as well, as Forsthoffer secured first place with a 2:07.51 time, while Charlotte Myers picked up points with a third place finish.

On the diving front, freshmen Katie Caputo and Hannah Jordan were both solid in the three meter dive, with Caputo tallying 223.9 points, complemented by Jordan’s 216.5. The scores were enough to propel Caputo to second and Jordan to third in the standings. Later on in the one meter dive Caputo would score 252 points en route to her first collegiate victory. She was joined in her celebration by Jordan, who scored 212 and took third in the very same event.

The swim sprints resumed with the 200-yard breaststroke, where Kutch and Diaz put their stamp on the race. Kutch wound up as the overall winner of the category, taking it with a 2:04.99 time. Diaz performed well enough to take hold of the runner up spot in 2:07.36. They were followed up by Sicinski and senior Becca Churchill in the 200-yard backstroke, who took the top two spots in their heat in dominant fashion. Sicinski’s 2:22.30 time garnered her a first place finish, while Churchill’s 2:26.54 put her in second.

Despite the day’s grueling schedule, the energy of the lady Dragons rarely faltered. Freshman Jordan Washart and Fistrovic had respective times of 5:15.63 and 5:17.98 in the 500-yard freestyle, which placed them firmly into the second and third spots in their event standings. Another first ever collegiate win was seen by Hopf, who shook up the 100-yard butterfly seedings along with Myers to take first in 59.12. Myers missed out on the top spot by three-fifths of a second.

Consecutive placements in the top three of the 200-yard individual medley brought even more success for the women’s side, as Rudy took first, Forsthoffer second and Diaz third. The trio put up respective times of 2:08.71, 2:09.47 and 2:12.85.

The women capped off their run of wins with one last first place finish in the 200-yard relays. Perni, Gundling, junior Courtney Levins and Kutch came together and took the relays by storm with a winning time of 1:38.83. Third place was also snatched up by Dragons Sicinski, Myers, Hopf, and freshman Corinne McCurley, who finished with 1:39.78 as their time.

After the final scores were announced, Drexel’s women’s team were named the winners, their dominance unavoidably evident in the 184.5-109.5 score. The men’s team were able to capitalize on the momentum set forward by their fellow Dragons, as they ended their day with not only a much needed win, but two shattered school records.

Kicking the day off for the men’s team with the 400-medley relay, third place was earned by a squad consisting of juniors Spencer Hill, Joe Short and Andrew Zhugayevich, and sophomore Zach Valenzuela, which completed the race in 3:30.05. In that same event, Drexel’s primary squad of senior Ralph Cannarozzi III, freshman Paris Raptis and juniors Jason Arthur and Stathis Malamas stepped up to provide Raptis with his first career win as a Dragon. Raptis would later get another first place win in the 200-yard butterfly, coming in at 1:50.90. As Drexel’s A team settled onto the diving blocks, the group didn’t realize they would be setting a new pool record for the medley relay with a 3:22.77 finish.

Just as they had for the women, the freestyle specialists proved to be a major threat to Seton Hall’s chance of picking up spare wins here and there on the men’s side. Senior Patrick Cobb swam 1000 yards in the free to capture first place in 9:38.39. Senior Luke Hanner put in a serious effort to take second in the 200-yard free, hitting the wall at 1:44.30.

Arthur excelled in the 100-yard backstroke, taking the event for himself in 50.60. Sophomore Rhys Kawaguchi swam 53.04 to take third in the same event. The two were paired again in the 200-yard backstroke, where Arthur placed first and Kawaguchi second.

Cobb and senior Dane Bell both showed a lot of promise in the 500-yard freestyle, a race that Cobb took first in and Bell second, though only three seconds differentiated the two.

In the 100-yard breaststroke, senior Harrison Schultz took third in 58.55, but some more history was made when Cannarozzi broke a nearly 30-year-old school record to take first in 56.43. For his leadership and key roles in setting new pool records against Seton Hall, Cannarozzi was deemed worthy of the prestigious CAA Men’s Swimmer of the Week award. In addition, Cannarozzi scored points with a third place win in the 200-yard breaststroke, edged out by another Dragon, Valenzuela, for second.

Following his pivotal role in the record breaking medley relay, Malamas would not let up throughout the day. The junior would not quit seeing positive results, taking first in the 100-yard free, and second in the 50-yard free, the latter of which saw him accompanied by freshman John Scully, who scored third place with a 21.56 time.

Raptis, yet another member of the newly crowned 400-yard medley record holders, was keen to build on his wins, and did so with outstanding races in the 200-yard IM and the 100-yard butterfly, earning the top spot in each. Freshman Dom Scifo took third in the latter event in 52.15.

The men closed out their day on top, having fully blown past Seton Hall. The 200-yard freestyle relay teams took first and third, in 1:24.57 and 1:27.48 respectively.  Zhugayevich and junior JonPat Ransom, sophomore Colin Kent and freshman Alex Flynn were the third place leg, Arthur, Scully, Malamas and junior David Kneiss comprised the winning squad.

The final 160.5-127.7 score went in favor of Drexel after the return of key personnel missing from the La Salle meet. The Dragons evened out their record on the men’s side, while both the men and women sent a message to the rest of the CAA that they will be a strong force this season.

Both Drexel’s teams will get a chance to showcase their mettle in Baltimore, Maryland at the Thomas Murphy Invitational, Nov. 2. The Dragons will face heavy competition from Loyola University Maryland, John Hopkins University and West Chester University. Their saviness and roster depth will be tested unlike any other point in the season.

The Philadelphia Eagles (3-4) traveled across the ocean to play the Jacksonville Jaguars (3-4) at Wembley Stadium in London, England, Oct. 28. Coming into the game, the Eagles were recovering from a blown 17 point lead against the Carolina Panthers, which will go down as one of the team’s worst regular season losses in its history. In addition, the Eagles had lost three of their last four games. The Jaguars, however, had also struggled this season. It was just last season that this team had arguably the best defense in the National Football League led by their star cornerback, the oft-outspoken Jalen Ramsey. The Jaguars got a lot of buzz in the beginning of the season after winning the first two games of the season, including a week 2 win over the Patriots. Since then, however, Blake Bortles has struggled greatly; they had lost three in a row coming into the game against the Eagles.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t Jalen Ramsey who was talking trash before the game. Rather, it was Eagles’ star safety Malcolm Jenkins.

“I can turn on the tape this week of our opponent (the Jaguars) and see that Colin Kaepernick deserves a job,” Jenkins said, when asked about the Players Coalition.

The first quarter of the game was a slugfest. Both defenses played really hard while both offenses struggled. On their first drive of the game, the Eagles were marching down the field until a Carson Wentz sack at the Jaguars 37-yard line led to a fumble. On the next play from scrimmage, Blake Bortles had a fumble of his own but managed to recover it. The Jaguars were unable to find the endzone and it resulted in a 50-yard Josh Lambo field goal. On the next Eagles drive, the Birds got to the Jacksonville 23-yard line, but once again Wentz turned the ball over, throwing an interception to Ramsey on a pass intended for receiver Josh Perkins. Towards the end of the second quarter, the score was 6-3 Jacksonville, but the Eagles got the ball back after Jaguar receiver Keelan Cole fumbled as a result of an unbelievable tackle by Eagles rookie Avonte Maddox. The fumble put the Eagles in great field position and they finally capitalized. Wentz scrambled for 13-yards and then completed a 32-yard touchdown pass to rookie Dallas Goedert.

In the second half, the Eagles continued to find success on offense. Wentz was really on point after committing two early turnovers. Midway through the third quarter, running back Wendell Smallwood finished off a pass from Wentz to score a 36-yard touchdown, giving the Eagles a 17-6 lead. Jacksonville responded with a 75-yard drive of their own, which culminated with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Bortles to Dede Westbrook. Unfortunately for the Jags, they were stuffed on their two point conversion attempt. That ended up being the last touchdown of the day for the Jaguars. The only points the Jaguars were able to score after that were two Lambo field goals.

On the other hand, the Eagles continued to click offensively in the fourth quarter. Jordan Matthews had a big 36-yard catch, which eventually set up a 5-yard touchdown pass from Wentz to Zach Ertz. The Jaguars had a chance to make a drive and take the lead, but the Eagles defense had other plans and stopped Jacksonville on all four downs at their own 48.

The final score was 24-18, bringing the Eagles back to .500 at 4-4.  Despite the poor start, Wentz had an excellent game as he finished with 286 passing yards and three touchdown passes. Jordan Mathews lead the Eagles in receiving, hauling in four catches for 93 yards.

The Eagles next game will come in week 10 against the Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field for Sunday Night Football. The Eagles are hoping that their trade deadline addition of Golden Tate will provide a spark in the offense for a playoff push.

With two great games to end their season, the Drexel University women’s soccer team was in great shape to take the Colonial Athletic Association by storm. Their first opponent was the College of Charleston in Harrisonburg, Virginia, Oct, 26.

Charleston, however, was the first to attack as they got a goal early in the first half. CAA Player of the Year Lauren Ortega took a free kick from Raymara Barreto and buried in the back of the net. She grabbed the ball from 45-yards out and snuck the ball past junior goalie Libby Baeza.

However, Baeza made crucial saves later in the half to keep Charleston from taking a larger lead. She pushed a header over the crossbar and blocked a low shot to keep the opponent’s lead to one. Drexel had a chance to equalize towards the end of the first half, but Charleston’s goalie Genevieve Henderson blocked the header from redshirt senior Kiera Hennessy.

In the second half, Charleston finally increased their lead to two when Ortega and Alyssa Beck assisted Maddy Brill-Edwards, who took the pass and tapped it into the goal. Although this doubled Charleston’s lead, the Dragons did not give up. Later in the half, senior Shaelyn McCarty sent a cross from the left wing to freshman Morgan Rees, who then headed the ball into the net to get Drexel back into the game.

But, Drexel was not done yet. In the final minutes of regulation, the Dragons got the equalizer from a shot outside the box. Hennessy took a ground pass from Rees, who fired it past Henderson.

Now with some life put into them, the Dragons took the game into overtime. The two teams went back and forth, both trying to push for the lead. However, with less than six minutes left in the second overtime, Ortega weaved her way through the defense and was once again one-on-one with Baeza. Just as last time, she got the upper hand and the game-winning goal.

This was officially the end of the Dragon’s season. They ended with a 7-7-5 record, with a 4-4-1 record against CAA opponents.

The Drexel University men’s soccer team traveled to Williamsburg, Virginia, Oct. 20 to play the College of William & Mary in a Colonial Athletic Association conference game. The Dragons entered the game holding a tie with Northeastern University for fifth place in the conference, and leading William & Mary by two points.

Redshirt junior Cole Smith scored the game’s first goal in the 27th minute, giving William & Mary a 1-0 lead. Drexel answered back in the 37th minute when junior Kwesi Allen scored his fourth goal of the year. The goal was a header off a free kick from sophomore Neil Boyal. In response, William & Mary’s redshirt senior Graham Guidry scored in the 44th minute, which ended up being the game winner.

Drexel was unable to tie the game in the second half. The Dragons got outshot 20-8 and were called offsides three times. The loss put Drexel in a tiebreaker for sixth place and the final playoff spot. Drexel is not guaranteed to make the playoffs as they will now have to wait and hope that they get a bid.

In their final game of the regular season the Dragons hosted Saints Joseph’s University for the Soccer Six co-championship. Leon Maric scored in the eighth minute on a penalty kick to give the Hawks the lead. Sophomore Ritchie Barry extended the lead for St. Joes in the 15th minute after scoring off a rebound. Just 50 seconds later, Drexel freshman Joey Martini made a cross to the box that landed at the foot of Boyal for the first goal of his college career. Sophomore Laolu Daranijo tied the game in the 21st minute by scoring an upper-90 shot from 30 yards out.

Senior Mathias Ebbesen continued Drexel’s onslaught of goals after he booted his in for his eighth goal of the year to give the Dragons a 3-2 lead. It only took the Dragons 20 minutes to score again after graduate student Griffin Mallas finished a beautiful assist by Ebbesen. Drexel scored an unbelievable four goals in the first half, which is all they needed to get the victory. It was the first time Drexel scored four times in the first half since Oct. 6, 2010, against George Mason University.

The win gave Drexel a record of 9-5-3 on the season. While the regular season is over Drexel will have to wait and see if they get in the CAA playoffs. In order for that to happen, Northeastern University needs to lose its final two games, the College of Charleston must earn less than two points in their final two games, and Elon University needs to win a game.

The Drexel University men’s and women’s crew teams sent one boat each to compete at the 54th Head of the Charles Regatta in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Oct. 20 and 21. The women competed in the women’s club eights event Oct. 20, and the men competed in the men’s collegiate eights event Oct. 21.

Over 2,300 entries from over 800 clubs and universities around the world come to compete at this regatta bringing more than 9,000 athletes and even more spectators. Beginning in 1965, the Head of the Charles Regatta is one of the largest regattas in the world. Athletes ranging from high school level, to collegiate, to masters and to Olympic level athletes compete in various events.

The race is three miles (4,800 meters) long. It begins at the Boston University boathouse and passes through four sets of bridges over the Charles River before ending near Northeastern University’s boathouse. One of the most troublesome spots on the course is the sharp bend in the river before Eliot Bridge, which is approximately 1,000 meters from the finish line. The turn features about a 180 degree turn for the crews to maneuver. Boats that have a coxswain, the athlete in charge of steering, must complete this turn efficiently to avoid adding time to their crew’s race and maintain their speed.

Drexel has competed in this regatta for a number of years. The regatta involves an early registration process and a draw. If a crew places in the top half of the crews in the event during the previous year’s regatta, they are guaranteed an entry in that same event for the following year. If a crew does not place in the top half, they will not have a guaranteed bid in that event for the next year and must rely on a lottery bid in the draw if they want to compete.

Last season, Drexel sent four boats, two from the men’s team and two from the women’s team, to compete in the women’s championship eights, women’s club eights, men’s championship eights and men’s collegiate eights events. After placing in the bottom half of the championship events, Drexel did not receive a bid this year for those two events and only competed in the club and collegiate level events this year.

The women had an exciting race Oct. 20. They finished seventh with an overall time of 17:28.363 which was a little over a second ahead of local rival Temple University and only 0.124 seconds behind Colonial Athletic Association rival Northeastern University. Yale University took home the gold medals in the women’s club eight event with a time of 17:10.341. The crew from Radcliffe (Harvard University) and the crew from the University of Pennsylvania finished with faster times than Yale but were excluded from the race.

The men’s team had a fantastic second-place finish earning them silver medals at one of the most prestigious regattas. The men’s varsity eight team came through the finish line with a time of 16:05.830 just behind the crew from the University of Michigan, who finished with a time of 15:58.108.

The Dragons return home to the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia Oct. 27 for the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta. Last season, the Dragons won two of the events: the women’s college frosh/novice eight and the men’s club championships eight events. They will send a total of nine boats to compete in these two events again and also the men’s college frosh/novice eights, the women’s club championship eights and the men’s and women’s championships eights events.

In the men’s championship eights event, the varsity eight will compete against many of the same teams they saw at HOCR such as crews from the University of Virginia and Saint Joseph’s University. There will also be a boat racing from the Chinese National team.

In the women’s championship eights event, the varsity eight will compete against local teams from Temple, St. Joe’s and Penn as well as a CAA rival from the University of Delaware. For more information, visit https://hosr.org/.

Following the races Oct. 27, the Dragons will travel to Princeton, New Jersey, Oct. 28 to compete in the Princeton 3-Mile Chase on Lake Carnegie. They will bring a total of six boats, three from each team to compete in the men’s varsity heavyweight eight and women’s varsity open eight events.

Following an accolade filled 2017-18 season that saw Drexel University’s men’s and women’s swimming teams take second and fifth, respectively, at the Colonial Athletic Association Swimming and Diving Championships, the Dragons traveled to Philadelphia based rival La Salle University Oct. 20 to begin their season. The teams were eager to build on the success they encountered during the previous year, but ultimately split wins and losses at the meet.

Drexel previously met La Salle in their last season opener, a tri-meet that also included competition from Villanova University. The Dragons’ home advantage at the Daskalakis Athletic Center pool helped the men’s side beat both of the opposing teams following a point deficit, with the final score determined by the last two races of the day.

Early on in the day, the women’s 200-yard relay teams secured key results that would push them past the Explorers by the day’s end. Juniors Alexa Kutch, Hollie Hopf and Kaitlin Perri along with freshman Megan Sicinski formed the winning medley team, clocking in at 1:47.05. Not far behind them was Drexel’s second squad, comprised of sophomore Gabrielle Rudy, junior Alicia Diaz and seniors Charlotte Myers and April Forsthoffer, which finished with a 1:48.25 time, along with a second place final standing.

Niki Fistrovic managed to keep the momentum going for her side, as she worked tirelessly on the long distance front. The senior put in a shift at the 1000-yard freestyle, finishing in 10:51.55. Fistrovic was the runner up in her event, just barely getting edged out for the top position. The 200-yard freestyle featuring freshman Paige Powell would prove to be one of the day’s most exciting, though the thrills would come from a different source. Natalie Gundling, Powell’s sophomore teammate, displayed a tremendous amount of grit to catch her La Salle competitor at the wall. Powell put up a time of 1:56.08, besting Gundling by half a second.

Kutch would end up pulling double duty in the sprint events, switching over to the 100-yard backstroke, which she took comfortably with a time of 57.04. History would repeat itself as Kutch and Diaz pushed each other all the way down to the wire, just as they did in the 200-yard relays. Once again Hutch and Diaz would place first and second, respectively, with the latter just barely missing out on the top spot. Diaz would later clinch third place in the 50-yard freestyle in 25.21. Kutch and Diaz would face off for a third and final time in the 200-yard backstroke to similar results as the two took first and second, respectively.

Success in the shorter sprint events seemingly wouldn’t end for the Dragons, as the women would continue to dominate them until the meet’s end. Rudy and Sicinski would come together to score some points for the Dragons in 100-yard breaststroke. While Sicinski came in third at 1:06.49, Rudy took first in a close fight against Carrie Horran, a La Salle junior. The two Dragons also showed up alongside each other in the 200-yard breaststroke, with Sicinski breezing through her competition in 2:22.16. Rudy completed the race in 2:25.01 to take second overall.

The swimmers were afforded a period of rest midway through the competition as the divers took center stage. Freshmen Katie Caputo and Hannah Jordan impressed for Drexel in the three-meter dive. Both earned high marks on the judges’ scorecards, with Caputo tallying 239.18, and Jordan 213. They both finished within the top three for the one-meter dive as well.

The sprints resumed as Forsthoffer, who had a great individual performance earlier on in her relay, emerged as the victor in the 200-yard butterfly in 2:07.98. She was closely followed by freshman Jordan Washart, whose 2:12.18 garnered her third place. Washart finished with a 5:18.88 time in the 500-yard freestyle, enough for her to pick up her first collegiate win. Another first place was up for grabs in the 100-yard butterfly, which Forsthoffer happily swept up. Myers and Hopf rounded out that event with second and third place, respectively.

Sicinski would finish out her day with yet another first place showing, this time in the 200-yard individual medley, where she was joined by Forsthoffer and Rudy. Sicinski finished in 2:10.94, while Forsthoffer and Rudy fleshed out the top three. The lady Dragons ended the day on a win in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Drexel’s winning team was comprised of Powell, Gundling, Perri and Kutch. Third place was taken by Drexel’s second team, made up of seniors Rebecca Churchill, Deborah Stoddard, Charlotte Myers, and junior Dora Gercsak.

The Drexel’s women’s team pulled out a victory over La Salle, ultimately leaving the pool deck with a score of 192-106. While the men couldn’t muster a win, falling 154-134, the squad saw some fantastic individual performances on the day. Juniors Jason Arthur and Andrew Zhugayevich led the 200-yard relay to first place with the aid of senior Ralph Cannarozzi and freshman Paris Raptis. Senior Alberto Lagrutta, junior Joe Short, sophomore Zach Valenzuela and freshman John Scully were in the race the whole time, barely losing out on second place to the Explorers.

Senior Patrick Cobb earned the first individual win for the Dragons with relative ease, out-performing La Salle in the 1000-yard freestyle in 9:42.69. The senior class was well represented as Cobb’s fellow senior Luke Hanner put in solid work in the 200-yard freestyle, earning third place in 1:44.68. Arthur and junior Spencer Hill continued the crusade against the Explorers, both forcing their way into the top three in the 100-yard backstroke.

Cannarozzi and Valenzuela were placed in a stacked 100-yard breaststroke race. Neither of the upperclassmen were able to secure first, but performed admirably, with Cannarozzi taking second and Valenzuela third. The duo were paired up again for the 200-yard breaststroke, though they ended up switching places in the event, with Valenzuela finishing second and Cannarozzi third.

The 200-yard butterfly saw Raptis finish second in 1:50.31, while Scully placed third in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.62. Junior Stathis Malamas faced tough competition in the 100-yard freestyle, where he put up a 47.45 time and a placement within the top three performers. Victory was seemingly unable to elude Arthur, who earned another dominant win in the 200-yard backstroke, hitting the wall at 1:52.33. Accompanying Arthur was Hill, who caught some spare points by swimming a 1:56.22 time to close in on third place.

As the day neared its end, the intensity of the Dragons seemed to increase, as could be seen in the 500-yard freestyle. Patrick Cobb and Dane Bell, another senior, swam respective times of 4:41:34 and 4:48.01 to take the top two spots. Paris Raptis, who participated in four events on the day, showed off his in endurance by taking second in the 100-yard butterfly in 50.50, before turning around to take third in the 200-yard IM.

Jason Arthur, who took first in each of his three previous events, took his win streak to four in the 200-yard IM. For his key contributions on the day, Arthur was named Drexel University’s School of Education Athlete of the Week. The final event for the men was the 400-yard freestyle relay, in which the Dragons took second place.

Drexel will return Oct. 27, when they will face off against Seton Hall in the season’s home opener at the DAC. The men will be looking to earn their first win of the year, while the women hope to extend their winning record.

Nearing the end of regular season, the Drexel University women’s soccer team was looking to get some additional wins to clinch a playoff berth. In order to do so, they had to get past Northeastern University Oct. 18 and Elon University Oct. 21.

In their first game of the week against Northeastern, Drexel got off to a fast start as sophomore Shea Tomlinson got a shot on goal within the first three minutes. It was blocked, but a corner kick by senior Shaelyn McCarty led to another shot on goal by freshman Morgan Rees. So, within the first five minutes, it was clear that the Dragons weren’t going down easy.

Northeastern returned with their own offensive firepower, but it was to no avail. Finally, in the 32nd minute, it was Drexel that came out and scored first. Freshman Lauren Currey intercepted a pass by Northeastern and fed the ball to Rees, who then gave the ball right back for a give-and-go. This pushed Currey past Northeastern’s defense and allowed her to fire a shot past Northeastern’s goalie Nathalie Nidetch. This goal and two more saves by Drexel goalie junior Libby Baeza allowed Drexel to stay up 1-0 at halftime.

Northeastern came back in the second half looking for an equalizer, as they took multiple shots on goal, but Baeza and the Dragon defense was ready. They fended off every opportunity and eventually ended the game with a 1-0 win.

This was a huge Colonial Athletic Association win for Drexel since this was only Northeastern’s second loss, and it bode well for their playoff chances.

The Dragons moved on from this win to a game against another crucial CAA foe, Elon. The game started off pretty tame, as the ball stayed in the midfield. Elon, however, was the first team to attack with a shot but Baeza was there for the save. Drexel came back with two of their own opportunities by Currey and senior Emma Heckenberg, but neither turned into a goal. Two more opportunities by senior Rachel Sharkey and freshman Rory Klingensmith led to the first goal of the game. A corner kick by Heckenberg found redshirt senior Kiera Hennessy, who drove the ball in the back of the net to give the Dragons the 1-0 lead.

In the second half, it was Drexel that got the first chance to go up 2-0 but Klingensmith’s shot went wide. The Dragons had another opportunity to score with 20 minutes left in the half when a shot by sophomore Raenah Campbell led to a Heckenberg corner. Her corner did find Currey, but her header was wide. Two more Heckenberg corners led to unsuccessful goal attempts until a free kick from Heckenberg met the head of Currey, who flicked the ball into the back of the net for the Dragons’ second goal. Elon continued to fight but it was to no avail, as Drexel won, 2-0.

This win clinched Drexel’s playoff berth and earned them the No. 5 spot in the CAA championships. They will play No. 4 College of Charleston at James Madison University Oct. 26.

Drexel University hosted the 2018 FS Investments U.S. Open Squash Championships in the Daskalakis Athletic Center Oct. 6-13. After competing in each round of the week-long tournament, No. 2 Raneem El Welily and No. 1 Nour El Sherbini both from Egypt were set to compete for the women’s title, and Egypt’s Mohamed ElShorbagy (ranked No. 1) and Germany’s Simon Rosner (ranked No. 5) competed for the men’s title.

The women played first in an intense three set match. The two players El Welily and El Sherbini were familiar with each other as they had played multiple matches together before. At 22 years old, El Sherbini was the youngest player in this finals match. El Sherbini trailed early in the first set down 4-2, but came back with two successful plays to tie. Another solid lead from El Welily kept her ahead for the rest of the first set to go on to take a one-set lead.

The second set was definitely a change of pace as El Sherbini came firing back to take a 3-0 lead to start it off. But soon El Welily caught up and they were tied 7-7. The two went back and forth point for point until they were soon tied at 9-9. The winner had to win by two points and the frustration from El Sherbini was beginning to show. After two fantastic plays, El Welily got the win for the second set, putting her up 2-0 in sets.

In the third set, the longest rally occurred for El Welily to earn the point and bring the score in her favor to 10-7. After hitting a down and out ball to give El Sherbini a point, El Welily definitely scored the last point in a rally that brought the crowd to their feet to congratulate the winner. El Welily swept El Sherbini in three sets to take home her first U.S. Open title.

After a short break, the men came onto the floor to warm up before their finals match. In the first set, Rosner took a 2-0 lead to start which he then increased to 4-0 stunning the crowd. As the set went on and the two players rallied back and forth, the score came to 8-6 with Rosner still leading. Rosner then missed a swing at the ball making the score 8-7, but a miss from Elshorbagy would give Rosner the two-point lead again. A dominant performance from Rosner gave him a win in the first set.

It was clear at this point that the match was set to be very athletic. ElShorbagy had a small lead in the beginning of the second set, but Rosner came back within one point, 4-3. A few difficult plays and mistakes from Elshorbagy left the two players tied 7-7.

Soon after, there was a dispute about whether ElShorbagy had been in the way of Rosner (a violation known as a let), and the referee reviewed the playback. The referee awarded the let and a point to ElShorbagy, which gave ElShorbagy the lead now 9-8. He went on to take the next two points to win the second set 11-8.

The two players were now tied 1-1 in sets. Rosner pulled off a win in the third set 11-6 giving him a one-set advantage heading into the fourth set. The fourth set was a make-it-or-break-it set for ElShorbagy since he would lose the title if he lost this set.

After learning the movements of Rosner and being able to see which direction he was headed, ElShorbagy made some fantastic moves that held him dominant in the fourth set to take it 11-8.

Again, the players were tied 2-2 in sets forcing the fifth set to determine the winner. ElShorbagy opened play in the fifth set with a 4-2 lead. He eventually increased this lead to 9-2, and it was beginning to look like there was a winner. Rosner fought back to earn two more points before the match ended, but ElShorbagy would prove his athleticism and strength by taking the set 11-4.

This was the 46th year of the FS Investments U.S. Open Squash Championships and the eighth year in a row it was held at Drexel. The two champions this year both represented Egypt. This was ElShorbagy’s third title in five years.

With the new renovations of the Armory on Drexel’s campus, we may be seeing many more national and international squash events soon.

The Drexel University men’s and women’s crew team participated at the Navy Day Regatta on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia Oct. 13. The teams faced competitors from Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania and the United States Naval Academy. Overall, the Dragons had top five finishes in their respective events.

The Dragons competed in six events: the men’s and women’s collegiate freshmen/novice eight, men’s and women’s collegiate junior varsity eight (generally, the second varsity eights) and the men’s and women’s open/collegiate eight (varsity).

The best performances came from the men’s side as the varsity eight and second varsity eight rowed to second place finishes. The men’s varsity eight raced to second place behind Navy with a time of 12:06.54. Navy took first place with a time of 12:05.22. The Dragons also placed ahead of local rival Saint Joseph’s University by about seven seconds, which is a huge margin for them as St. Joe’s had a very successful season last spring. The men’s second varsity eight also placed behind Navy A by 14.6 seconds but ahead of the Navy B by 1.2 seconds.

There were two third-place finishes by the women’s team from the second varsity eight and the freshmen/novice eight. The women from Penn came in first 19.2 seconds ahead of second place Temple. The Dragons were only 0.66 seconds behind Temple for a third-place finish, but ahead of Georgetown University by 17.58 seconds.

New to the team, the freshmen recruits participated in the collegiate freshmen/novice eight event. The top three finishes were only separated by about five seconds. These are exciting results for schools to gauge how competitive their incoming classes are. The Temple women placed first with a time of 14:37.07. The team from Navy placed just 1.22 seconds behind them, with Drexel trailing about three seconds behind Navy.

The men’s freshmen/novice eight and the women’s varsity eight both placed fifth in their respective events. The men from Penn took first in the men’s freshmen eight event with a time of 12:13.52. The Dragons were 26.05 seconds back from the Penn crew.

The women’s varsity eight placed fifth behind Temple, Georgetown, Navy and Penn. Penn won the event with a time of 13:15.43 which was 18.9 seconds ahead of second place Navy. Temple rowed a time of 13:43.33 which was about six seconds ahead of the Dragons.

The Dragons will now look ahead as they travel to Massachusetts, for the 54th Head of the Charles Regatta Oct. 20 and 21. The women will participate in the club eights category Oct. 20 while the men will participate in the collegiate eights event Oct. 21.

The women will be racing crews from Yale University, Syracuse University, Northeastern University (Colonial Athletic Association rival), Dartmouth College, Temple, Radcliffe Crew (from Harvard University) and Penn. The men will be racing crews from the University of Virginia, St. Joe’s, University of Michigan, Navy and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

These are two very competitive events at the Head of the Charles, and the Dragons will look to see how they can compete against some of the top crews in the nation.

Following the Head of the Charles, the Dragons will return to Philadelphia to participate in the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta Oct. 27 before they travel to Princeton, New Jersey, Oct. 28 for the annual three-mile Princeton Chase.

The Drexel University men’s soccer team traveled to Boston to play Northeastern University Oct. 13. Coming into this game, the Dragons desperately needed a win in order to get three points and stay alive in the hunt for a playoff spot in the Colonial Athletic Association Conference. Drexel was the more aggressive team in this game, kicking it off with incredible energy. This is what led to a 14-9 advantage in total shots over the Huskies for the game. Junior Kwesi Allen lead the charge taking six of those shots.

Redshirt freshman Stephen Kopsachilis was solid in the net once again, making two key saves and not allowing any goals for his fifth shutout this year. The team rallied around this effort, and Drexel was finally able to secure a CAA playoff spot in the 98th minute when sophomore Laolu Daranijo connected off a pass from Kwesi Allen to secure the win, 1-0.

Drexel hosted Princeton University in a non-conference game Oct. 16. Unlike the Northeastern game, or perhaps because of the intense finish to that one, Drexel looked a little more lackluster in its effort this time around. Princeton outshot Drexel 22-8, and had 12 fouls compared to Drexel’s three. Kopsachilis faced an onslaught in the first half, as he defended eight of the game’s first shots and made three saves. That day Kopsachilis had seven saves and did not give up any goals. Even through double overtime, neither team could breakthrough, and the match resulted in a scoreless tie.

Drexel’s next game will be Oct. 20 where the Dragons will travel to Williamsburg, Virginia, to play the College of William & Mary in the last CAA conference game of the year. In order to stay alive the Dragons must win and hope for Northeastern to lose their final conference game.