As a new academic year starts at Drexel University, so does a new year of Drexel sports. Drexel is a member of the Division I in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. With the amazing record the women’s soccer team had last year, it is quite exciting to look forward to what they and the rest of Drexel Fall sports have to offer.
Drexel soccer has been a staple here at the University for a while now. Every day, people line up to play soccer at Vidas Field, and with the newly renovated Vidas Athletic Complex, soccer is very popular on campus. With the past success of the men’s and women’s teams, and the gathering of people from all over to come together and play, soccer is a sport to watch on Drexel’s campus.
Last year, the women’s soccer team went 11-7-1. This season, they have gotten off to yet another great start. Against Columbia University, the Dragons tied in overtime 1-1. Columbia had the first goal in the 33rd minute by senior Emma Anderson. The Dragons struggled to come back from this deficit for most of the game, but in the 79th minute, they finally broke through with a goal by sophomore Shaelyn McCarty. Her equalizer, which snuck in the left side of the goal, brought the Dragons back in the game. Both teams had a chance to take the lead towards the end of the half, but none of them could capitalize on the opportunity.
In another game against La Salle University, the Dragons pulled through to a 1-0 win in overtime. Just like the previous game, McCarty scored the winning goal in the 103rd minute. La Salle had their chance to take the lead in the second half when they were awarded a penalty kick. However, freshman goalkeeper Libby Baeza denied La Salle the lead and the game continued. However, no one could score before time ran out and the game went into overtime. Here, McCarty scored from the left side of the field into the lower right corner of the net and gave the Dragons the lead and eventually the game.
The men’s team, which didn’t do as well as their counterpart last year, but this year they have had a great start. Against Binghamton University, the Dragons scored three goals in the first 11 minutes. Junior Kewsi Allen scored two of those three goals, with one of them coming in from over 30 yards out and another from a beautiful pass in stride from senior Mathias Ebbesen. The first goal of the game came from Griffin Mallas, a transfer graduate student who made a low shot across the goalkeepers body to the far post. Binghamton tried to come back with two goals in the next seven minutes, but after that, they failed to tie the game, and the match went to Drexel.
Drexel field hockey managed to recover from their slow start against the University of Virginia Aug. 24 when they had a powerful win against Rider University Aug. 26. The first game, against the No. 7 team in the nation, looked promising in the beginning, as Virginia only scored one goal. However, they scored seven unanswered goals in the last 55 minutes of the game to seal their victory. Drexel’s only goal came from freshman Avery Powell, who scored the first goal of her career.
The Dragons came back in their second game with a gigantic win over Rider. The opposing team scored first, however, in the first three minutes. Drexel would then come back with a big offensive surge and hold possession for most of the rest of the game. Junior Tess Bernheimer scored the first goal in the first 10 minutes of the game and sophomore Sydney Muntone scored the next with two minutes left in the half. Two goals by sophomore Megan Wiest in the next half, and four goals in the span of 10 minutes allowed Drexel to secure the victory.
With these sports and the start of the Drexel golf season in the midst, it looks to be an exciting fall season full of plenty of games to watch.