[media-credit name=”ken.chaney” align=”alignleft” width=”300″] Senior Kaitlyn Harris has played in every game for Drexel this season. The defender from Blue Bell, Pa., has tallied nine ground balls, caused seven turnovers and won five draw controls through the first 14 games.

Last weekend started off with the Drexel women’s lacrosse team extending its win streak to four games, only to see it snap there a few days later. The team split its Colonial Athletic Association games against George Mason University and James Madison University April 12 and 14.

The Dragons used a strong second half, including a run of five goals, to knock off George Mason 10-5. Alyse Maiden scored three goals, all in the final 15 minutes of the game, plus an assist; Kelli Joran had a hat trick of her own.

The game was tied at three heading into halftime after GMU scored the final two goals before the break. The Patriots had controlled many key areas of the game, such as recording twice as many ground balls as the Dragons and winning six of seven draws through the game’s first 30 minutes. Head coach Anna Marie Vesco rallied her players, challenging them to show they wanted the win more than their conference rival.

“I rattled off some stats, especially the hustle stats, so we just asked them, ‘Who wants it more?’” she said. “It’s conference time, so we stepped it up in the second half.”

Her players listened and responded.

“We went into the locker room, and no one put their heads down,” sophomore Alissa Watts said. “Coach just said to come out and win all the draws and win all the ground balls.”

Goalkeeper Teresha Bradley made eight saves in net for Drexel. The sophomore picked up her fourth straight victory, manning the net in each of the Dragons’ wins during the streak.

Drexel was unable to match its season-high winning streak of five games, falling well short in a loss to James Madison. The Dragons lost 16-9 on Senior Day, struggling to limit the Dukes and their many scoring runs.

Bradley and the Dragons found themselves in an early hole after allowing JMU to score the game’s first four goals. Drexel would make it 7-4 at halftime, but the Dukes jumped out of the gate early in the second, just as they did in the first half.

In a 6-0 run, Ali Curwin scored two of her four goals on the day to push JMU ahead to a 13-4 lead, and Drexel could not get within six goals the rest of the game. Bradley was pulled after allowing 12 goals, but the damage had already been done.

It was a defensive breakdown that Vesco did not see coming nor could have predicted.

“Our defense has been our strength all year, and Teresha has been stellar in goal,” she said. “We held top teams to eight or nine goals, single digits. If you would have told me before the game that JMU would score 16 goals off of 22 shots, I would not have believed you.”

Maiden had another stellar game offensively, scoring four more goals for a total of seven in the two games. Her strong weekend earned her a Drexel CLEAR Athlete of the Week award, as she tallied nine total points in the two conference games.

She was one of six seniors, along with Kelli Joran, Kaitlin Harris, Kristin Kopenhaver, Jessica Rudloff and Emily Bauer, honored before the game as part of Drexel’s annual Senior Day at Vidas Field. Vesco mentioned the pregame festivities, with all the emotion involved in the festivities and the meaning of the players playing in one of their final games on their home collegiate turf, as a contributing factor to the team’s slow start on Sunday.

“Senior Day is always a day full of emotion, and the pregame festivities seem to have left us unfocused,” Vesco said. “But I need to give JMU credit. They definitely came to play.”

The seniors will play their final game at home April 19 at 5 p.m. against the University of Delaware at Vidas Field as conference play continues. Despite the rough game against JMU, Drexel has fared very well against the CAA. Off to a 3-1 start, Vesco described the start to the conference part of the schedule as “great.” With one more win, the Dragons will have solidified a berth in the CAA playoffs.

Drexel’s weekend does not end there. The Dragons get set to face off April 21 against Towson University, a team they have been targeting since the preseason. The Tigers have ended Drexel’s season and championship hopes in each of the past two seasons, winning two playoff games by a combined margin of victory of three goals.

Vesco and the team will look to regroup and start another long winning streak, as they’ve now had two of four or more games on the season. Another four-game win streak would put them in the CAA championship game.

The coach is interested to see how her squad comes out and plays this weekend. She pointed out that last weekend can serve as motivation and a wake-up call. Vesco is looking for players on both ends of the field to step their game up moving forward.

“Sunday was a great wake-up call,” she said. “It will be interesting to see how our players respond this weekend. We have to improve on both ends of the field in order to succeed.”

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[media-credit id=46 align=”alignnone” width=”300″] Senior first baseman Jenn Reading stretches for the out in Drexel’s doubleheader loss against Hofstra University April 7 at Drexel Softball Field. Reading leads the Dragons with 14 RBI in 36 games this season.

After a miserable start to the week, the Drexel softball team salvaged a victory in the final inning of the week’s last game. Overall the team went 1-4 for the week, including a perfect game that was thrown against them.

The Dragons were shut out by Hofstra University 11-0 in the series opener April 6. The game, which took place in the cool morning air, was closely played for the first few innings.

Tara Konopka got the start for Drexel, and after surrendering two first-inning runs, she settled into a groove and posted zeros the next two innings. The fourth inning did her and Drexel in, though, as she imploded to yield nine earned runs.

The game would be called after five innings due to the mercy rule. The Drexel lineup only managed one hit, a second-inning single by Maddison Timoteo.

In Sunday’s doubleheader, the offense would not do much better. The Dragons were shut out in both games en route to being swept by the Pride.

In Game 1, Olivia Galati hurled a six-inning perfect game against the Dragons, striking out 13 of the 18 Dragons she faced. Her performance on the mound was more than enough for the Pride, who supported her with 13 runs. Galati actually scored more runs herself than the amount of baserunners she allowed in the entire game.

Shelby Taylor got pounded on the mound to the tune of nine runs for Drexel. Big innings for Hofstra in the fourth and sixth innings, during which they scored 11 combined runs, did more than enough damage to bury Drexel.

Galati came pretty close to following up and matching her performance in Game 2, which Hofstra won 5-0. She allowed an infield single in the first before retiring 19 consecutive batters to end the game with a one-hit shutout. For the day, she tossed 13 shutout innings, allowing only the one hit and striking out 23 Dragons.

Konopka took the loss for the second straight day. The freshman allowed all five runs in her complete-game performance, falling to 6-11 on the season.

The shutout capped a scoreless weekend for the Drexel bats. Head coach Miranda Ervin simply said they were outplayed.

“They outperformed us,” she said. “We established our level of play, which was awesome to be a part of.”

The Dragons split their doubleheader against the United States Military Academy April 10 to finally get back in the win column, but not before a Game 1 loss. Konopka took another loss, yielding five runs over seven innings in a 5-1 defeat. The Dragons did get on the scoreboard, snapping their 23-inning scoreless streak.

In Game 2, Drexel snapped a seven game losing streak in dramatic fashion. Trailing by one heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Dragons rallied for five runs, capped by Taylor’s walk-off grand slam to capture the 7-3 victory. Each Dragon to come to the plate in the seventh inning reached base.

Taylor’s grand slam helped her own cause, as she won her fourth game of the season after hurling seven innings on the mound. She allowed only two earned runs and rebounded nicely from her two previous rough outings, helping Drexel improve its record to 11-25.

“She is definitely on track,” Ervin said. “I look forward to her performances this weekend.”

Taylor will get the ball when Drexel faces off against Towson University, starting with a doubleheader April 13 and ending with a third game April 14. The Dragons will look to snap their 10-game conference losing streak. They have lost 14 of their last 15 games against Colonial Athletic Association foes.

Because of the competitiveness and talented teams scattered throughout the conference, Ervin knows the team needs to play as sharp as it can and not give away outs, runs or games. She has made a point to focus on making the plays and doing the right fundamentals.

“I think we need to continue to focus on fundamentals,” she explained. “Our conference opponents are great competition and continue to push us to be better.”

The Tigers sit in fifth place in the CAA standings with a record of 19-23-1. They are one of the teams Drexel would need to leap past in the standings as they look to get on a run and climb out of the conference’s cellar. Ervin anticipates a tough battle over the weekend and expects to see fight from her team.

“I think we need to be performing at a high level to win,” she said. “I look for us to be a feisty team to do anything to win.”

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The Drexel softball team is set to face Hofstra University in a three-game series, including a doubleheader, April 6-7 at Drexel Softball
Field. The Dragons are coming off a 0-3 series loss to James Madison University in Harisonburg, Va., March 29-30.

On March 27, the team swept both games against Bucknell University on the road. Both games were decided by the same score: 3-1.

In Game 1, a three-run third inning was enough for Drexel. The highlight of the inning was a two-run double by Jenn Reading. Mary Horton’s error opened the door for the big inning, and the Dragons took advantage with three unearned runs. Tara Konopka earned the victory for Drexel with a complete-game, five-hit effort.

Game 2 was very similar in not just the score but also the way in which Drexel scored. Again, Reading provided both the game-tying and go-ahead RBI on one swing, driving in two with another third-inning double. That would again be enough for Drexel’s pitching staff. Rose Portiolli picked up the victory, pitching in relief of Shelby Taylor.

Strong pitching, solid defense and situational hitting keyed the doubleheader sweep, according to head coach Miranda Ervin.

“I think the sweep of Bucknell was more about being able to score when we needed to, and I think what stood out most was we played solid defense,” she said. “We put the ball in play when we had to and had a couple of key hits that we just really haven’t been getting.”

Ervin was especially impressed by the command of Konopka, Taylor and Portiolli.

“They got ahead and didn’t walk people,” she said. “With that, I thought they controlled the entire game. I never felt like Bucknell had a threat offensively to get back in the game.”

A few days later, the Dragons regressed to their recent struggles against the Colonial Athletic Association. The team dropped three games in two days to James Madison University, being swept in a March 29 doubleheader and losing the March 30 series finale.

In Friday’s Game 1, Drexel was shut out by freshman Jailyn Ford, who yielded only one base hit in the Dukes’ 8-0 victory. Konopka was hit hard, surrendering five runs in five innings. The eight-run rule allowed the game to be called after five-plus innings.

Game 2 was similar to Game 1, only worse, as Drexel was again beaten badly, 11-1. It was Ford beating the Dragons again, but this time with her bat. She slugged a grand slam, which actually was a walk-off, and put the eight-run rule in action again. Portiolli took the loss after allowing six runs to score in three innings.

Things did not get better in Saturday’s finale, and Drexel once again lost 11-1. Ford picked up her second victory on the mound in two days, running her record to 12-1. Taylor allowed 11 runs in four innings, including a demoralizing five-run first inning to the Dukes.

“You get down early in the game, and then you struggle to come back,” Ervin said. “They do have a good pitcher in Ford, but it was one of those things we could not get down early in the game and then get back in it.”

As for the offense, it was not just Ford’s dominance. Ervin saw opportunity for the Dragons to produce, but it just did not happen.

“I thought she was good, but I don’t think she was so much better than us that we could not score runs,” she said.

The loss marked Drexel’s 10th straight CAA defeat, dating back to last season. They have dropped 14 of their last 15 conference games.

They will, however, get a chance to snap the drought and pick up a win against a fellow CAA opponent when they host Hofstra University for three games this weekend. Beginning with a doubleheader Saturday, April 6, and another game the next day, they will have their hands full with the Pride, who sport an 18-9 record.

Ervin is looking for a competitive weekend from her squad.

“I want to just see a team that competes, a team that believes they can win, and then see what happens,” she said.

Ervin also said she hopes to see a nice turnout of support from Dragons fans. She noted that Drexel has an opportunity to turn the season around and make a postseason push.

“It’s a big home series, so they should come out and support us,” she said.

[media-credit name=”Rachel Wisniewski” align=”alignleft” width=”300″] Junior Justin Klunder attempts to advance the play up the fi eld against the University at Albany. The Dragons are currently ranked No. 13 in the nation
and will face Mount St. Mary’s University March 16.

The men’s lacrosse team split its two games last week, defeating Bryant University before falling to Bucknell University. With the split, the team moved its record to 4-2 and is currently ranked 13th in the nation.

The Dragons knocked off the Bryant Bulldogs with a score of 11-5 March 9 at Vidas Field. The victory moved their then-winning streak to four games.

Robert Church had a hat trick for Drexel, and Frank Fusco and Ben McIntosh each added a pair more to lead the offense. By the end of the first quarter, the Dragons had jumped out to a 4-0 lead.

Late in the game with the score 6-3, Drexel would ice it with five unanswered goals. The Dragons would carry an 11-3 tally into the final five minutes of the game before Bryant added two late goals.

Making his first career start in net, Cal Winkelman held his own for Drexel. The redshirt freshman stopped 15 shots on the day to earn his first collegiate win. Winkelman, who was starting in place of the ill Will Gabrielsen, impressed head coach Brian Voelker with his debut.

“He stepped up, played well and made the saves he needed to,” Voelker said. “I thought he really stepped up and played well for us.”

Voelker was impressed overall with the play on both ends against Bryant. He thought Winkelman was joined by his teammates, who also stepped up and played a solid game.

“It was a good win,” he said. “We buckled down and played well. In general I thought everyone stepped up and played well on both ends.”

That would be the end of the Dragons’ four-game winning streak, which started immediately following their season-opening loss to Virginia. Drexel fell to Bucknell March 12 in an ugly 17-8 game, failing to recover from an early hole.

The Bison received hat tricks from Todd Heritage, Chase Bailey and Brock Ghelfi and scored 14 times on Winkelman before the freshman was pulled. Drexel went into the half in an 11-4 deficit and would not get back into the game.

Voelker observed an opposite type of performance from his team on Tuesday, in contrast to Saturday’s victory. The early slump became too much to overcome.

“We played in spurts,” he said. “When you do, it’s going to come back to bite you. We couldn’t get it back in our direction.”

A bright spot in the game were the two goals by Robert Church, the 100th and 101st of his Drexel career. The senior became just the seventh men’s lacrosse player in program history to eclipse the 100-point milestone.

“He’s been a great player the last four years,” Voelker said of Church. “We knew before the season he’d be a guy that we could count on, and he’s been a great player who does a lot of things for us on the offensive end.”

The Dragons will look to regroup following the loss and start up another winning streak. Their first crack at doing so will come Saturday, March 16, at home against Mount St. Mary’s University at Vidas Field.

The Mountaineers will come to University City with a record of 4-4 but with a hot offense. They are coming off two straight victories in which they scored a total of 30 goals.

“They’re very good on the offensive end,” Voelker said. “We’re going to have our hands full.”

With the heavy offensive unit coming in, Saturday would not be a good time to be missing Gabrielsen. Voelker said, however, that it is doubtful the freshman will play this weekend, as he is still recovering from an illness.

One thing that does point in Drexel’s favor is their undefeated record at Vidas Field, going 3-0 in the first three home dates. Mount St. Mary’s, meanwhile, will bring in a 0-3 road record to the matchup.

The Drexel softball team continued its struggling start to the young season. The Dragons posted a disappointing 2-4 record (2-6 overall) Feb. 24-27.

The week started with a road trip south, as they traveled to Greensboro, N.C., for the Spartan Classic. Returning for the second year, the Dragons dropped three of four.

The Dragons began the road trip being swept Feb. 24. They received a spectacular pitching performance to open up the day from junior Shelby Taylor in a 1-0 loss to Quinnipiac University. The junior posted seven innings of one-run ball, scattering only five hits throughout the morning game. Unfortunately, it was wasted, as the Drexel offense was quieted by Hannah Lindsley in a one-hit shutout.

A few hours later, Drexel’s offense still was not awake. This time it was Marshall University’s Andi Williamson who allowed just one hit in a complete-game shutout, as she led Marshall to a 4-0 victory.

Drexel bounced back the next day and defeated Williamson and the Marshall Herd 4-3. Freshman infielder Ellen Scott had the big hit for the Dragons, a two-run single in a three-run fifth inning. Taylor picked up the team’s first win of the season in relief. Head coach Miranda Ervin attributed the win to a change in approach at the plate. Ervin said an effort to be more aggressive was key, as they racked up eight hits against Williamson.

There would be no winning streak, as Drexel followed up the victory with a 9-4 defeat in extra innings Feb. 25 to the hometown team, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The game was tied through seven, but the Dragons were done in by an error by junior Comfort Ahonkhai. The throwing error opened the door for five unearned runs and a tough loss for freshman pitcher Tara Konopka.

The Dragons split a doubleheader Feb. 27 with George Washington University. In Game 1 they were shut out for the third time in four days. GWU pitcher Meghan Rico limited Drexel to just one hit and completed the five-inning shutout.

The Dragons would bounce back and win 3-2 behind Taylor. Junior catcher Maddison Timoteo had the big hit, knocking in Taylor for the deciding run in the sixth. Along with scoring the winning run, Taylor evened her record at 2-2.

Eight games into the season, the Dragons are off to a 2-6 start for the third straight year. Despite the few wins, Ervin said she has been encouraged by her players’ improvement.

“The team is working hard every day, shown by how they’ve gotten better in season,” Ervin said.

Ervin saw some positives in her two pitchers, Taylor and Konopka. They should continue to impress as they gain more experience. Ervin said she views them as pitchers who can win big games down the line.

“Tara is young, so she has to try to not do too much,” Ervin said. “They both have the skills to take us far. They just need game experience.”

Up next in the condensed softball season is the Coastal Carolina Invitational. The Dragons will have five games on the docket.^. The Dragons will take on both Wichita State University and the host, Coastal Carolina University, March 1. They will face Western Carolina University and the University at Albany March 2. They will wrap up the weekend trip with just one game March 3 against Western Carolina.

That is five games in 48 hours and four games in less than 24 hours. Ervin and the team know it is part of the game.

“This is what it’s about once the season starts,” Ervin said. “It’s about getting out there, resting, staying healthy and getting these games in.”

The team will get a day off before returning home for a doubleheader March 5 against Rider University. Despite the tight schedule and early struggles, Ervin said she expects the team to continue its improvements, play hard and get back in the win column.

Senior midfi elder Kelli Joran avoids Towson University attackers. Joran fi nished last
season with 29 goals and 34 points.

Following a preseason that lasted over a month, the Drexel women’s lacrosse team is ready to get the season underway. Their first game will be Feb. 16, when they travel to Washington, D.C., and face off against George Washington University.

It was not the preseason, however, that prepared the Dragons for this matchup, and more importantly, this season. Their focus on the 2013 season started the second last year’s season ended in a one-goal loss to Towson University in the Colonial Athletic Association playoffs.

The team has been working hard through preseason drills, practices and items such as fitness testing. Head coach Anna Marie Vesco senses the anxiousness in her team to hit the field in real games. They have been working hard to shore up each aspect of the game. In her opinion, they are ready to go.

“We’re ready,” she said. “We’ve been working pretty hard on both ends of the field, working on our transition. The girls are chomping at the bit; they’re ready.”

While the veteran players remain hungry from the disappointing ends to previous seasons, the 2013 edition of the Drexel team is actually much different than even last year’s.

“We have a good core back, but we lost 10 players in graduation, which is a big loss,” Vesco said. “We lost [Charlotte Wood], one of our leading scorers last year.”

Wood scored 37 goals last year, tallying 50 points. She was such an important piece to the team that she had points in more than 25 percent of the Dragons’ scoring last season.

Any concerns that Vesco and the team may have about replacing that production are no longer a big issue, as a few players stepped up in the preseason.

“We thought that was going to be an issue,” Vesco said. “It seems that we’re having some youngsters step up, and it’s exciting.”

Vesco also praised returning Dragons and a few standout stars in the preseason: Kelly Palace on the attacking end and Summer O’Donnell, a defender who was redshirted last season. She was also impressed with senior Kristin Kopenhaver on center draws, saying she will be a big key to the team. It appears the team has enough pieces to fill in the missing roles from the departed class.

A big reason why Vesco and the team can be successful despite losing so many seniors is that her leading scorer is returning. Senior attack Alyse Maiden is back after leading the Dragons with 55 points in 2012. One particular thing that excites Vesco is the synchronization of Maiden and the veteran Dragons, including Kelli Joran and Amanda Norcini.

“We’ve had several players starting since freshman year, so their connections are really great on the field,” Vesco said. “We’re having some really nice looks, nice plays, all the way from transition into the attacking end. It looks very strong.”

Maiden, a captain on the team, agrees and thrives with those connections Vesco sees. She also sees connections being made by the team as a unit.

“I definitely feel like there’s certain people that connect on the field, but it’s great that our whole team connects for the most part,” Maiden said.

She embraces the new players and looks forward to seeing how they fit into the team. She continued, “It’s a great feeling, and it’s tough that we had 10 seniors graduate last year, so it’s great to see new faces on the field.”

Vesco is interested in continuing to watch the battle in net unfold during the course of the season. Incumbent goalkeeper Teresha Bradley and freshman Carlee Ries have been battling for the starting job throughout the winter. Vesco is leaning toward starting Bradley in the season opener.

“Right now it looks like Teresha has the edge,” Vesco said.

Once a decision is reached, the team will be completely ready to get things underway.

“We’re excited and we worked hard for it, so a lot of people are ready to step up to the challenge,” Maiden said.

Vesco discussed some of the goals and expectations, but for the most part left determining the goal up to the players.

“We try to lay the goals out as them, like, ‘What do you want to accomplish this year, as your team?’” she explained.

There was an overwhelming popular response to that question.

“They are really focused on the CAA championship and winning it,” Vesco said.

More specifically, there is one CAA foe that every Dragon has her eyes on, the team that ended each of their last two seasons: the Towson Tigers.

“We’d love to beat Towson and give them a little run for their money,” Maiden said. “That’s something we’re definitely looking forward to.”

In 2011 Drexel fell to them in the playoffs by two goals. Last year it was only a one-goal decision, which does not make it any easier to cope with a season-ending loss.

“We hate losing to Towson, so we want to do everything in our power to beat them,” Vesco said.

Maiden thinks the team has made the necessary adjustments and improvements to put themselves in position for a rematch that favors the Dragons. She and her teammates have been working hard to get themselves into the next stage in the playoffs and ultimately capture a CAA championship.

“I think we’ve come a long way since the fall,” Maiden said. “It went by very [quickly], and I think we’re just ready to start the games.”

The season opener against GWU starts at 1 p.m. Their first meeting against Towson will come April 21 in Towson, Md. If history is any indication, it will not be their only meeting this season. That’s what the Dragons hope.