PHILADELPHIA, PA. 4/6/2019 – The Drexel Dragons opened their home section of their CAA schedule against their rival the Blue Hens of Delaware. The Blue Hens got off to an early lead and maintained it throughout, answering all the Dragons charges to earn a 15 – 13 win at Vidas Field. Drexel junior Reid Bowering scored a game-high tying 5 goals matching Joe Eisele who also hit the same number for the Blue Hens. Each player had an assist.
“They made plays when they needed to make plays,” said Drexel Coach Brian Voelker about Delaware. “They controlled the game and we made mistakes.
Delaware scored the first 3 goals of the game within the initial 5 minutes. Drexel battled back to get to within a goal over the two and a half minutes. UD got the next two scores. It set the stage for the rest of the game where the Blue Hens would get a large lead, then hold off the Dragons. It was tough for the hosts to continue to play uphill.
“We dug a big hole, and you’re always battling,” Voelker said. “The margin of error goes out the window. Everything has to go your way, it has to be perfect. We were not perfect.”
Collin Mailman got Drexel to within 5 – 3 at the 13:01 mark of the second quarter. Then, the Dragons went cold for over 9 minutes. Delaware went out to a 8 – 3 advantage until Matt Varian, who scored 3 goals, found the back of the net at the 3:54 mark. Varian had 3 goals for Drexel.
In the third quarter the Dragons whittled the deficit to 2 goals. The Hens answered. Varian cut the gap to 12 – 10, but Delaware got the next goal each time and it was scored by Eisele. There were two close calls that went against Drexel that could have got the team to within a goal, but an apparent goal by Bowering was disallowed by a crease violation. A shot by Varian at 13:59 of the fourth quarter hit the post and bounced away.
The game was statistically even, but Delaware took advantage of their chances. It is a numbers game sometimes. The Blue Hens had 15 goals on 37 shots for 41%. The Dragons scored 13 goals on 41 shots for 32%. Drexel had more shots, Delaware made theirs count. DU goal keeper Ross Blumenthal saved 7 while UD net minder Matt DeLuca saved 12.
Ryan Genord was the other multi-goal scorer for Drexel getting 3. Varian was credited with 4 assists for 7 points which tied his career-high for points in a game. Bowering has a team-high 33 goals and points with 37.
For Delaware Charlie Kitchen had 3 goals and 4 assists totaling 7 points. Clay Miller, Dean DiSimone, and Tye Kurtz had 2 apiece being their multi-goal scorers.
Delaware improves to 9 – 2 overall, their best start since 2006, and is 2 – 0 in the league.
Drexel falls to 4 – 6 and is 0 – 2 in the CAA. The Dragons will look to get the first conference win next week as Fairfield comes to visit.
“The effort has been there,” said Voelker. “We showed we can do it and have to put it together more consistently.”
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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