Senior Meghan Plank follows through on a shot during the Oct. 3 game against Pennsylvania State University. (Ken Chaney – The Triangle)

The Drexel University Dragons were back at it Oct. 3 playing a tough team from The Pennsylvania State University at Buckley Field. Penn State came into the match ranked No. 9 in the country and they played like it. The Dragons came into this game having won three straight games, two of which featured a great offense and all three were played exceptionally well on defense.

Early on, the Dragons looked like they would be able to handle their tough opponent. However, in the 11th minute the Nittany Lions took over the game forcing the Dragons to have an uphill battle in an already tough match.

Penn State would neutralize Drexel’s offense and dominate their defense, beating the Dragons 5-0. Penn State improved to 9-2 and Drexel fell to 6-4.

Penn State’s own Taylor Herold began the scoring for the Nittany Lions. She was able to put one past Jantien Gunter in the 11th minute, making the score 1-0. Neither team was able to put any type of scoring drive together until the 30th minute when Penn State again scored once again when Amanda Dinunzio scored her fourth goal of the season.

The beginning of the second half is where the game got out of hand for the Dragons. In the first 12 minutes Penn State beat Drexel’s defense for three unanswered goals, by Natalie Buttinger, Laura Gebhart, and Herold, putting the game out of reach at 5-0.

Unfortunately the Dragons were unable to score in this game. They found a few opportunities in the late minutes of the game to score, but Penn State’s goalkeeper, Kylie Licata, saved a shot from Allyson Fuller to keep Drexel off the board.

Although it was a tough loss, the Dragons redeemed themselves just two days later on Oct. 5 against Bucknell University. This game went according to plan for the Dragons as they seemed to take their anger and frustration from their last match out on the Bisons.

The Dragons went on an offensive attack in the first few minutes of the first half. Bucknell’s Shanon Keen saved two Drexel shots, but Rachael Sumfest was determined to score. In the 11th minute Sumfest was able to put one past Keen for her sixth goal of the year.

Bucknell would then go on the offensive, trying to even the score at one but a tough Dragons defense forced shots wide. The Bisons would end their offensive try with a shot on goal, which was saved by Gunter keeping the score at 1-0.

Drexel took one last offensive set at the end of the half in an attempt to go up by two right before the second half. Sumfest would again score to tally her seventh goal of the season and the second for the Dragons.

The second half was dominated by the Dragons. The Bisons attempted another offensive set in the opening minutes but a blocked shot and another save by Gunter halted Bucknell’s efforts..

In the 45th minute, who other than Sumfest would score the Dragons.

Drexel scored again three more times without any offensive retaliation from Bucknell. Idrienne Walker, Jenna Knouse, and Mary Lynam would all find the back of the net. The 6-0 victory was the Dragons seventh of the season.

This was a nice bounce back win for the Dragons and seeing as they will be entering conference play it was important to boost the team’s confidence. Conference play is the biggest part of the season for the Dragons so all early season games give the Dragons a chance to to fix the holes in their game.

Drexel has showed great improvement on offense, but more importantly their defense is staying, consistently sharp.

“Looking at our team as a whole, I believe our team’s style would be best described as a strong team defense,” Head Coach Denise Zelenak said,

It is this team defense that has brought the Dragons to 7-4 overall, and will be the factor that helps Drexel beat conference foes.

Drexel will kick off conference play Oct. 10 against Hofstra University at Buckley Field. Drexel will look to begin their conference games with big wins and get a head start on the rest of the division.

The Philadelphia Phillies’ Ryan Howard reacts after striking out swinging against the Atlanta Braves in the second inning at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, June 27. Howard could be traded before the season ends. (Steven M. Falk – Philadelphia Daily News/MCT Campus)

Major League Baseball shut down for a short four-day break, July 11 through July 15, to enjoy the 2014 All-Star Game festivities. This year’s games had a similar feel to last year’s, with the Home Run Derby winner staying the same and another ceremonial introduction for a future Hall of Famer.

Something different this year, however, was the appearance of the Phillies’ Chase Utley, who played extremely well in the All-Star Game. Unfortunately, Utley must return to the Phillies where the losses outnumber the wins. The All-Star break hasn’t changed anything for the Phils: they are still struggling to stay above the .400 mark. The only good news about the Phillies is the apparent willingness to let go and trade some older, more seasoned players.

Before getting into the struggling Phils, let’s look back at a fun All-Star weekend. In the Home Run Derby, the Oakland Athletics’ Yoenis Cespedes beat the Cincinnati Reds’ Todd Frazier in the final round to win back-to-back Home Run Derby trophies, the first player to do so since Ken Griffey, Jr., in 1998-1999.

Moving on to the actual All-Star game; it was New York Yankee legend Derek Jeter’s final All-Star appearance and what an appearance it was. From the pregame ceremonies to the actual game, Jeter had a very memorable All-Star finale. Some say he took up too much of the festivi-ties; others say it was just right. But we are saying goodbye to one of the greatest shortstops to ever play the game; Jeter deserved everything he received.

Jeter’s performance in the game was on par with what he’s done in his career — he singled and doubled in his two at-bats. The double came with some controversy, as it looked like Adam Wainwright, the National League pitcher, pitched Jeter almost as if he was trying to give him a hit. Regardless, Jeter did what he often does: he stepped up in front of a crowd expecting a show.

The All-Star Game for Phillies fans was just as exciting as it was for others. Second baseman Chase Utley did the Phillies proud by going 1-for-1 in the game and having an overall good showing in his short outing. It’s unfortunate there was only one Phillies player in the game, but it was nice for fans that Utley could contribute and wear the Philly uniform proudly.

As we move on to talking Phillies baseball, it might get a bit depressing. It’s the same old song and dance, just with maybe a few changes on the horizon.

It is obvious the Phillies are out of contention this year and most likely for years to come, so the question remains, why isn’t Ruben Amaro, Jr., selling players yet?

Well, it seems like he is beginning the fire sale. There have been multiple rumors about A.J. Burnett retuning to the Pittsburgh Pirates in a trade. This would benefit both sides because the Pirates would be gaining a pitcher who succeeded with them for a few years, and the Phillies would be gaining cap space and removing age from the roster. Both would be positive because cap space allows the Phillies to sign young talent and removing age is important because the younger you are, the more potential there is.
There have also been recent reports of the departure of Ryan Howard. At one time this was al-most unfathomable to fans because it still feels like Amaro seems focused on keeping the core guys around forever.

Howard had a great four to five years with the club, hitting his way to different records. Unfortu-nately for Howard he has had to deal with his fair share of injuries and has never been quite the same player since 2010-2011. Recently, he has slowed down his production, almost to a point that has Phillies fans rejoicing at the rumor of his departure.

Howard may still have some decent years left in the tank, but at 34 years old he is no longer a player the Phillies need on the roster, especially at his price tag. The reports are that the Phillies could eat his money and simply release him or trade him away. Either way, even if the Phillies need to eat money, it would still be a good move because it would free up roster space to allow young gun Darin Ruf and the like to take over full time and give fans a chance to see what the future looks like.

Other rumors circling around are ones that have been around for some time. Cole Hamels has told the Phillies which teams he would allow a trade to, which could be some indication that the newly paid Hamels could also be leaving. This, however, is not as likely as Cliff Lee being trad-ed away, which is another rumor that has been around for some time now. At this point in the season everyone is available to be traded, and most likely, there are not many players who would be traded for great or even good prospects. Trades would just allow the team to get rid of older players and bring in some prospects to fill in spots in the farm system.

Fans can only hope that in the coming years, the Phillies organization drafts well and builds cor-rectly. This way, the fans don’t have to endure too many years of failure. It is going to take some time, but in order to see more Phillies uniforms in future All-Star games we have to endure some pain now.

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The Philadelphia Phillies’ Chase Utley singles to drive in a run in the fifth inning against the Miami Marlins at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Wednesday, June 26, 2014. (Charles Fox/Philadelphia Inquirer/MCT)

The Phillies never make it easy, and this season, that has proved to be truer than fans care to admit. This time, the front office has a heavy hand in the blame, and this was reinforced tenfold this week.

Recently, Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. went on “The Mike Missanelli Show” and talked about his plans for the team. What we heard from Amaro was not what the fans wanted to hear. He said he is still focused on trying to retool rather then rebuild. It feels like a broken rec-ord because it’s constantly being said, but this is a team that needs to rebuild from the bottom.

For some reason, Amaro believes otherwise.

He believes that retooling the team will allow fans to watch and cheer on more wins than if the team goes through a rebuilding stage. He is absolutely correct: retooling will allow the team to win more, but winning more does not mean getting into the playoffs. It means regular season wins and mediocrity. There is no doubt rebuilding will make them endure horrible seasons, but it is something that must happen in order to see a brighter future. At this point, it will be more frustrating to watch a Phillies team win more but go 82-82 than watching a Phillies team filled with scrubs go 30-132. At least going 30-132 means young talent will be drafted, refueling the farm system, which is pretty much depleted right now.

Moving on from the future of the ball club, the team has some good news in the here and now. This week the Phillies had four games against the NL Central-leading Brewers. The Phillies were able to put together a good, if not great, series. They won all of the four games in the series, with second baseman Chase Utley leading the way with seven hits and two home runs.

On Monday, the Phillies played their first of the four games against the Brewers, winning 3-2. Outfielder Ben Revere and Chase Utley both had two hits and Utley brought in two runs as well. Cole Hamels pitched a big game, allowing just one earned run in six and two-thirds innings pitched.

The second game saw the Phillies explode for nine runs, which was good enough to overcome a shaky start by Kyle Kendrick. Kendrick gave up seven earned runs and could only manage two strikeouts while walking another two, but the Phillies’ bats gave them the 9-7 win. Chase Utley had another big game, driving in three runs and getting on base twice in four at-bats. Surprisingly, outfielder Dom Brown had a big game as well, hitting a home run and driving in three runs.

On Wednesday night, the Phillies’ magic continued as they won again, this time 4-1. The hero of the night was Jimmy Rollins, whose sixth-inning home run gave the Phillies the lead and ultimately the win. Utley again had a nice game, getting two hits and driving in another run.

It has been a good week for the Phillies and a surprising one at that. If the Phillies weren’t 10 games under .500 this type of series would really get fans excited for what could happen moving forward from this series. Unfortunately the Phillies are seated at 41-51, 10 games back of first place in the NL East.

But silver linings emerge. Chase Utley has been playing extremely well this season. After a few seasons where he has been kept away from the field by injuries, Utley has been playing an injury-free, dominant season. The second baseman is hitting .294 with eight home runs and 46 RBIs. It is a wonderful sight to see Chase hitting the way he can, unencumbered by injury. He was selected to his sixth All-Star game this season, his first since 2010, and will be the only player representing the Phillies in Minneapolis.

It’s been a tough season to endure, no doubt. For now, fans will just have to keep stomaching the tough losses, enjoying the occasional wins and cheering on Chase Utley’s All-Star season.

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Philadelphia Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg (23) talks with relief pitcher Jake Diekman (middle) and the Phillies infield against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the eighth inning at PNC Park. The Pirates won 6-2. (Charles LeClaire – USA Today Sports)

Remember when the Phillies would hit themselves back into games that were poorly pitched? Or when the pitching was dominant enough to make up for a bad hitting stretch? How about when the Phillies could sweep a team and it wouldn’t be a surprise?

Phillies fans do remember these things, which is why last season and this season have been so painful. It seems apparent that fans are going to have to get used to watching the Phillies struggle. The sooner Ruben Amaro Jr., realizes it’s time to sell rather than build the easier the pain will be to take. Everyone needs to be looked at as a movable entity because the team will not and cannot get better unless it is blown up.

June ended the same way it started for the Phillies: with lots and lots of losses. They were swept by the division rival Atlanta Braves, going outscored 22-8 during that series. There isn’t much else that Ruben needs to see after a series like that.

The season is more than half over and the Phillies are 10 games under .500. There is no sign they will make a miraculous recovery in the second half of the season. The only part of blowing up the team most Phillies fans might not like is getting rid of franchise mainstays like Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Carlos Ruiz. Those guys are the heart and soul of this team and they hold a place in every Phillies fan’s heart because of their championship season in 2008. The only member that is definitely staying from the championship team is Cole Hamels, who recently received a new contract that will keep him in Philadelphia for the foreseeable future.

Every other player needs to be let go so that the team can find some replacement players and begin the road to rebuilding.

Losing won’t necessarily help with immediate rebuilding like it does in the NBA; the only way to truly rebuild a baseball team is by building a strong farm system. The players in the farm system are the players of the future. Guys like J.P. Crawford get to play against other guys who could someday make it in Major League Baseball. The farm system helps grow young talent into MLB-ready players.

The problem with the farm system is that you do need guys with talent to grow. The Phillies have made decisions in the past to send many talented young players to other teams in exchange for guys like Roy Halladay, who made the team better instantly. This may have been a good move at the time, and the Roy Halladay move was clearly a good one, but as of right now all of those moves have caused the Phillies to have a depleted farm system.

The MLB Draft is where the Phillies are going to have to look for talent now. There can no longer be a desire to get big name players because unfortunately they wouldn’t quite help. The Phillies are a team broken beyond the repair of a few new good players. In the draft the Phillies will need to address points of weakness, like the outfield and third base, by scouting and drafting the top prospects at those positions. In the recent draft the Phillies took Aaron Nola, who is a promising young right-handed pitcher. With more hits in the draft, the rebuilding process will only get that much easier.

If the Phillies are going to look at other players to trade for, then the mindset again has to be rebuilding. No more acquiring older-but-proven guys in the MLB. This hasn’t worked for the Phillies yet, and it will only make things worse. The 2008 World Series team was a team filled with core players who came through the farm system, including the MVP of the World Series, Hamels. There will always be a player or two who didn’t quite pan out, like Domonic Brown, but that cannot discourage the front office of the Phillies to commit to rebuilding by way of young talent in the farm system.

Fans of this great ball club also have an important role to play in the rebuilding process, and that role is to keep cheering for the team. When all is said and done, moves are made to improve a team so that fans will spend their hard-earned money to watch that team. The best thing to do is use the power of spending money to influence a healthy and well-done rebuild. Fans cannot give up on a team rebuilding in the right direction; it is important to realize that rebuilding is a process that, when complete, has great benefits for both the team and the fans.

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Ryan Howard hits a 7th inning single May 27. The following day, Howard hammered a walk-off three run homerun against the Rockies. (Photo Courtesy – Ron Cortes, MCT Campus)

With the first two months of the Major League Baseball season quickly coming to an end, it’s time to look at how the Phillies have performed thus far. Unfortunately, this year has not been quite as exciting as previous years, but then again who thought it would be? At 23 wins and 27 losses the Phillies are last in the National League East, but there is always a possibility of resurgence, especially with four months of baseball remaining.

One bright spot this season has been Chase Utley who seems to be hitting and playing baseball like his old self, before knee troubles threatened his career. The 36-year-old second baseman has posted a .335 batting average with four home runs and 26 runs batted in. Utley is also leading the entire MLB in doubles, and so far he is the leader in the National League All-Star votes for second baseman. If he keeps up the votes he will be able to return to the All-Star Game, which he hasn’t played in since 2010. Fans who are looking for more to cheer about can look at Jimmy Rollins who has surpassed the great Richie Ashburn for hits as a Phillie, and is just 14 shy of Mike Schmidt’s record for most hits in Phillies history.

Moving on from the positives of the season, it’s necessary to look at the bad. Ben Revere has impressive numbers. The center fielder is hitting .292 and is eighth in the league in steals with 13. This, however, only masks the real problem with Revere. He may be young and his game may not be based on power, but Revere hit just his first home run of his career May 27 against the Rockies. He had gone over 1400 at bats without a home run up to that point.

This is almost gut wrenching to know that your center fielder contains little to no power, and while he may be getting on base, he also does not seem to hit in timely situations. Revere has just eight RBIs thus far in the season and has scored just 23 runs. In the outfield Revere has become a liability rather than an asset. He may make a few flashy plays, but more times than not he makes a bad read on balls hit to him and suffers from a less than adequate arm. Recently, manager Ryne Sandberg has taken him out of games in late innings because of his poor defense.

From center field to left field, Domonic Brown was supposed to be one of the young players in the organization that could hold some value. Unfortunately, Dom Brown has yet to produce to his full potential. He is a player who can hit the cover off the ball when hot, and his power can be compared to almost anyone in the big leagues. The catch here, however, is making contact. There is something to be said about a guy who has the potential to hit .247 with 42 home runs, and is hitting .203 with just three home runs. Hopefully he can continue to improve and produce closer to his potential.

In continuing to talk about young players, we must talk about Cody Asche. Asche was another player who was supposed to be a cornerstone for the organization. There were high hopes that maybe he could develop into an everyday third baseman, something the Phillies haven’t had for a very long time. Just two months into his first full MLB season, Asche is hitting .258 with four home runs and 18 RBIs.

While these numbers are not horrendous, there was hope that Asche would have more of an impact on games than he is having thus far. Asche’s fielding is also of concern since he has already committed seven errors. Asche is still very young so there is a chance that he turns a corner and becomes a constantly good player. As of right now, Asche is on the disabled list, trying to recover from a hamstring injury.

Of course there is nothing worth talking about more than the pitching for the Phillies. In the beginning of the season, closer Jonathan Papelbon proclaimed to reporters that the Phillies would have one of the most dominant bullpens in the MLB. Jonathan Papelbon himself has been dominant, positing a 1.86 earned run average and saving 13 games in 14 opportunities. On the other hand, the rest of the bullpen has been playing much worse than previously advertised. Overall, the bullpen has posted a 4.09 ERA and has had tremendous trouble keeping close games in the Phillies’ favor. The good news for the bullpen, however, is that it has improved. After April the ERA for the bullpen had inflated and now rests at 21st in the league.

The starting rotation for the Phillies has not been a terrible disappointment in the past two months. Cliff Lee has been the obvious ace of the staff posting an ERA of 3.18 and a 4-4 record. A.J. Burnett, one of the season acquisitions, has also pitched very nicely posting an ERA of 3.51 and a record of 3-4. Kyle Kendrick and Cole Hamels have both struggled some. Both pitchers have ERAs in the fours and their records combined are 2 and 8. This is disappointing, especially for Hamels, who recently signed a hefty deal to be the ace of the staff for years to come.

Hamels can have a bit of a break due to his injury in the offseason, which kept him out until late April, but he must start producing more quality outings as the season progresses. Rookie David Buchanan was a bright spot, recently being called up to pitch against a tough Dodgers lineup, posting a 3.60 ERA and getting his first win in the majors.

Overall, the Phillies need to focus on hitting. They are too inconsistent as a group, which Josh Beckett took advantage of when he pitched his no-hitter against the Phils May 25. In some games they can score with no issues and in others they can barely get a hit. The bullpen needs to continue its slow improvement and the pitching staff needs to continue being decent, while also waiting for Hamels to pitch like his regular old self. There is certainly time for the Phillies to start winning games consistently and gaining traction in the division. One well-played month of baseball in June could see the Phillies fighting among the top of the division.

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Junior attacker Alissa Watts looks for an open teammate March 12 against La Salle University. The Dragons won that contest, 10-8, but have dropped two in a row heading into their final match of the season on April 26. (Ajon Brodie)

The Drexel women’s lacrosse team dropped a pair of games at James Madison University and the College of William & Mary on a Virginia road trip April 18 and 20.

The games were well fought, but the Dragons’ poor road record continued to snowball starting with a dispiriting 17-7 loss to James Madison.

In the first game, the first half against James Madison was one the Dragons would like to have back again. It only took the Bulldogs’ Jaci Gordon two and half minutes to put James Madison up on top, 1-0.

The Dragons were then unable to clear the ball, which gave the Bulldogs more chances to score. After a few chances were thwarted, James Madison’s Taylor Gress scored her 16th goal of the season to extend the score to 2-0.

Not even 10 minutes had passed when the Bulldogs put the game seemingly out of reach with a five-goal scoring burst, all five of which came within 30 seconds of each other.

With the score at 7-0, the Dragons were feeling deflated and they had only played about nine minutes and 20 seconds of the game. Drexel stopped the bleeding with a goal from sophomore midfielder Emily Duffey, who scored her 15th goal of the season to bring the score to 9-1.

The Dragons tried to chip away at the lead as senior attacker Kelly Palace scored a pair of goals in a two-minute span to cut the gap to 9-3.

But James Madison scored two more goals in the half to extend its lead to 11-3. Drexel sophomore midfielder Emily Kellett scored her fourth goal of the season toward the end of the half to make the game 11-4.

The second half was no better.

Five minutes and 30 seconds into the second half, the Dragons allowed the Bulldogs to score their 12th goal of the game.

Duffey came right back with a goal, scoring her 16th of the season, but James Madison scored two more goals to take a 14-5 lead. Duffey scored again to complete the hat trick and junior midfielder Joelle Hartke notched a goal, but that finished up the Dragons’ offense.

The Bulldogs scored three more goals to finish off the game at 17-7.

Drexel’s play against William and Mary was much better, but the end result would be the same. The Dragons took the Tribe to two overtimes but could not pull off a victory, falling 11-10.

Unlike the game against James Madison, Drexel scored efficiently early on with Kellett, Duffey and Hartke all scoring in the opening minutes of the game. William & Mary had its own burst of offense and would answer each goal to tie the game at 3-3 before the 15-minute mark of the first half.

William & Mary began finding its edge on defense, holding the Dragons scoreless while the Tribe scored two goals to go up 5-3. It took Drexel some time to recover, but Kellett scored to bring the Dragons within one.

Drexel was held scoreless for the rest of the first half, and William & Mary scored two more goals to head into halftime up 7-4.

Freshman midfielder Caroline Thiele and Kellett began the second half with a pair of quick goals to draw within one, and the teams traded markers until freshman midfielder Eva Winiarski tied the game at 8-8 with 12:52 left to play.

Drexel took the lead off yet another goal by Kellett, but William & Mary came roaring back to tie the game yet again. With the game going back and forth all afternoon, it wasn’t surprising to see the Dragons’ freshman midfielder, Lacey Aghazarian, put Drexel ahead 10-9 with 3:22 to play.

But Drexel could not hang on and the Tribe scored a game-tying goal with just 46 seconds remaining in the game, forcing overtime.

Both the Dragons and the Tribe were locked defensively, and neither team was able to score in the first overtime.

The second overtime was filled with similar defense. Drexel had an opportunity to score: however, the ball was turned over with 1:30 remaining, and the Tribe maintained pressure until finally breaking through, scoring with just 11 seconds left in the second overtime.

Drexel lost this heartbreaking game, but fortunately for the Dragons, they will come back to Philadelphia, where they have played well all season and will play in their biggest game this season. Drexel will host Hofstra University April 26 in a win-or-go-home-game. If the Dragons prove victorious, they will be the fourth seed in the conference and have a chance to make some noise in the tournament.

“We have to focus on this one game, make sure we get the X’s and O’s down of Hofstra and fix some things that didn’t go so well this weekend,”head coach Hannah Rudloff said.

These two losses may have been a blessing in disguise for the Dragons because weaknesses are most glaring in losses, making them easier to spot and fix.

Rudloff expects her team to figure it out in the final week of the regular season.

“The message to the girls is just you’ve got one week”she said. “Do everything in your power to personally take ownership to make sure we come away with the win.”

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Junior attacker Alissa Watts carries the ball in a March 12 victory versus La Salle University. Watts and the Dragons play again April 18 at James Madison University. (Ajon Brodie)

It was all smiles for the Drexel women’s lacrosse team on April 12’s 9-6 win over the Monmouth University Blue Hawks, the Dragons’ second straight win.

The team looked to start off on top as in their previous win against Towson University, but breaking through proved difficult. Both defenses held solid for five minutes before Drexel junior midfielder Joelle Hartke gave the Dragons a 1-0 lead.

Both teams executed well on defense. Neither team could set up and run a play in the first half, but the Dragons found their spots. Around the 20 minute mark, senior attacker Kelly Palace took a free position shot, which was saved by Monmouth goalie Katie Donohoe. But the Dragons’ sophomore midfielder Emily Duffey recovered the ball and was able to score her 12th goal of the season to give the Dragons a 2-0 lead.

Behind a steel curtain of defense with the offense beginning to come alive, the Dragons continued to build their lead. With less than 17 minutes left in the first half, Duffey scored her 13th goal of the season and the Dragons went up to 3-0 lead.

Drexel was playing Monmouth much like they played against Towson University. Jumping to an early lead helped not only the offense begin to catch fire but also kept the defense solid.

Three minutes after Duffey’s second goal, the Dragons’ offense struck again. Palace scored her 27th goal of the season to give the Dragons a 4-0 lead. The Dragons were sharp and would not become complacent after scoring four unanswered goals. Sophomore midfielder Emily Kellett found a pair of chances and scored on a free position goal to put Drexel on top, 5-0, with her third goal of the season.

With just under nine minutes left in the first period, Hartke scored her second goal of the game and put Drexel on top, 6-0.

Monmouth had a chance to overcome the zero in their tally column with a free position goal attempt, but it was blocked by a simply unbreakable Drexel defense. With just under seven minutes left in the first period, Drexel freshman midfielder Lacey Aghazarian scored her second goal of the year and put Drexel ahead by seven.

Monmouth found a way to break the Dragons’ defenses in the first period, scoring two goals — both coming with fewer than six minutes left in the first to give the Blue Hawks some momentum heading into the second period.

After a yellow card foul was called on Drexel, Monmouth took advantage and scored its third goal of the game to draw within four, 7-3. Another free position shot was given to Monmouth, but again the shot went wide, keeping the Dragons up four at halftime.

The second half was well fought. The Dragons tried to hang on to the momentum they had in the first half and Monmouth tried to chip away at it.

Both teams continued their solid defense until a Monmouth foul gave Palace a free shot attempt. She converted for her 28th goal of the season and second of the game to give the Dragons an 8-3 lead with just under 18 minutes left.

Monmouth broke the Dragons’ defenses again with an assisted score from Claudia LaMarca, making the game 8-4. Monmouth was given another opportunity to score quickly after a foul was called against Drexel. Junior goalkeeper Teresha Bradley, however, would not allow Monmouth to chip away at the score, making a save and keeping the Blue Hawks down four.

Just seconds after the save, Monmouth received yet another free position shot attempt. This time Bradley would not be able to make the save and the Blue Hawks’ Stephanie Anderson stripped the lead down to three, making the game 8-5 with just under 15 minutes to play.

The game played on with no one scoring until 90 seconds were left in the game. The Dragons’ Duffey scored again to make it 9-5 and put the game out of reach for the Blue Hawks. Monmouth scored one more goal, making the end score 9-6 in favor of the Dragons.

This win gives the Dragons momentum heading into three conference games, with two being away from home.

But the team doesn’t want to rest on its momentum.

“Having won two games in a row, we’re focusing on keeping our practices competitive,” head coach Hannah Rudloff said. “Every drill is a competition and has a winner or a loser, and I think that’s helping the girls stay sharp and focused on the moment.”

The Dragons will attempt to extend the streak in Virginia, where they will play conference opponent James Madison University April 18.

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