Senior Amy Ferguson had a hat trick as the Drexel University field hockey team won both of their home matches last weekend, besting the Monmouth University Hawks 5-1 Oct. 12 and overcoming the Temple University Owls 2-1 Oct. 14 in a double overtime victory. The wins bring the Dragons back to .500 on the season with a record of 7-7 including a 0-2 mark in Colonial Athletic Association play.
Drexel started off strong against Monmouth and didn’t look back. Drexel took the lead in the 16th minute when junior Tess Bernheimer was able to score for her team off a corner. She is now the lead scorer for the Dragons with nine. A few minutes later the Dragons would strike again on Ferguson’s first goal of the game, assisted by junior Tess Horan.
However the Hawks were able to respond with a goal of their own in the 25th minute. The strike from senior Georgia Garden Bachop, her 12th of the season, made it 2-1 where the score would stand at halftime.
Coming out of the break the Dragons’ offense remained potent. In the 47th minute, shortly after a corner, Ferguson was able to backhand one home to make it 3-1. Senior Delaney Baxendale was able to add to the lead with her first goal of the season in the 54th minute.
Ferguson completed the hat trick in the twilight moments of the game on an advantage. In the 67th minute, Horan found Ferguson on the right side of the circle, who was able to spin around the goalkeeper and put it between her legs for the final goal of the game. Ferguson’s hat trick was the first for Drexel field hockey since 2014, when Rachel Sumfest scored three goals against Bucknell University in a 6-0 victory.
Drexel scored their five goals on only six shots on goal and eight shots total. Monmouth had 13 shots in the game with seven of them being on goal. Drexel goalkeeper senior Erin Gilchrist led the game with five saves, while Katie O’Hogan had one save for Monmouth.
On Alumni Day at Buckley Field against the 2-12 Temple Owls, it was a much tighter matchup. Both teams struggled to get many offensive opportunities in the first half.
The Dragons were able to break through in the final minute of the half, when freshman Emily Owens deflected a shot from freshman Puk Thewessen off a corner. The goal was Owen’s third of the season and gave Drexel the 1-0 lead going into halftime.
Temple was able to even the score in the second half. On their third corner of the half, Becky Gerhart was able to score on a diving reflection to make it 1-1. Drexel had multiple scoring opportunities, with seven corners in the half, but were unable to retake the lead, sending the match into overtime.
In the first overtime, the Owls dominated, but were unable to find a score. They had two shots and two penalty corners, but strong defense by the Dragons sent the game into double overtime. Temple kept the offense up in the second overtime, getting another three chances on penalty corners, but three saves by Gilchrist kept Drexel alive.
Drexel got a corner opportunity of their own in the final minute. Bernheimer took the corner and fed it into senior Megan Wiest on the right side of the circle. Wiest then passed across the circle to Thewessen who was able to bury a game winner to the left side of the net. Thewessen’s fourth goal of the season gave Drexel its first overtime win of the season and finished the five game homestand on a strong note.
The Owls led the game in shots 14-9, and in shots on goal 9-7. Gilchrist came up huge for Drexel with eight saves, while Cristina Carotenuto had four saves for Temple. The eight saves for Gilchrist were a season high.
The Dragons will go back on the road to resume CAA play this weekend. They will travel to Williamsburg, Virginia, to take on the College of William & Mary Tribe at 7 p.m. Oct. 19, then to Maryland to battle the Towson University Tigers at 1 p.m. Oct. 21.