The Drexel University Field Hockey team has had an up and down season thus far. At 4-4 the team has played well, but surprisingly they’ve played better on the road then at home.
The Dragons were 4-1 leading into their match against the University of Pacific Tigers Sept. 18.
It’s impressive to be able to go to another team’s home turf and win, but it is also surprising the Dragons have a tougher time at home, going 0-2 in their first two games at Vidas Field.
The Dragons traveled all the way to California to face the Tigers. Even though it was a far distance to go for a road game, the Dragon’s away record suggested that they could compete at any distance away from Philadelphia. Both teams were riding a three game winning streak before the matchup.
The match started off in Drexel’s favor when, just over four minutes into the first half, the Dragons scored the game’s first goal. Megan Wiest recorded her seventh goal of the season, putting the Dragons on top 1-0. Half way through the first half the Tigers scored their first goal to draw even with Drexel.
Both teams were doing a good job limiting turnovers. The Dragons, however, gave the Tigers six penalty shots in the first half while the Tigers were able to limit the Dragons to one penalty shot. The Tigers also scored a second goal off of a penalty stroke and took a 2-1 into the second half.
The Dragons did a decent job making adjustments for the second half. They limited their penalties, committing just three compared to the Tigers four. Unfortunately, the Dragons were unable to capitalize.
About 12 minutes into the second half, the Tigers scored their third goal of the game. With the score now 3-1 in favor of the Tigers, the Dragons were in need of some offense. However, it would be the Tigers who provided the offense for the remainder of the second half.
Pacific scored at the 19:47 mark and again two minutes later at the 17:40 mark. With the second half halfway over and a score of 5-1, the Dragons were running out of time to get their offense going.
Drexel continued to struggle and was unable to break the defense of the Tigers. Pacific scored once more with 12:23 left in the game, which increased their lead to 5 and put the game out of reach for the Dragons.
Drexel did have four penalty corners in the last few minutes of the match, but they could not convert. The end score saw the Tigers on top of the Dragons, 6-1.
With this loss, Drexel fell to 4-4 on the season. Despite the loss, it’s not time for the Dragons to panic.The team was on a role before playing Pacific, and the Tigers just happened to be playing at a hotter clip at the moment.
Drexel is a young team, but they are playing at a high level. The team will only continue to grow, and with their record at 4-4 they can still launch themselves into the postseason with good play. The Dragons will face Monmouth University Sept. 23 at Buckley Field.