Men's Soccer Moves on with Dramatic Shootout Victory Over Delaware

Thursday, November 14

Vidas Field

TBA

Drexel University

8-7-4

No. 4 Delaware

14-4-1

OT 4

OT 5

OT 6

Delaware

Drexel

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Men's Soccer Moves on with Dramatic Shootout Victory Over Delaware

11/14/2013 10:16:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - It probably had to be this way. Up 2-0 on Delaware midway through the second half in the Colonial Athletic Association semifinal on Thursday night, the Drexel men's soccer team probably was hoping it wouldn't have to be this way. But a year after earning the league's No. 1 seed for the first time only to lose in a shootout in the semifinals on their home field, it only makes sense that the Dragons would have to exorcise those demons to move on to their first-ever CAA championship game. The Dragons and Blue Hens ultimately played to a 2-2 draw through 110:00, but after an epic shootout period that went nine players deep, the Dragons finally emerged victorious, edging Delaware 7-6 in the shootout and moving on to the title game.

Joaquin del Rosario, a sophomore transfer who did not register a point during the regular season, scored two first-half goals for the Dragons to give them a 2-0 lead. Felipe Fagundes, a junior transfer who did not play during the entire 110:00 of the game, wound up with the game-winner, deking Delaware's Borja Barbero to the ground before pushing it straight down the middle on the Dragons' ninth penalty kick. Freshman goalkeeper Tyler Afflerbach had seven saves during the game and added two more in the shootout, including a stop of Delaware's Drew Colletti to seal the game.

Drexel took the lead early when del Rosario got his first goal as a Dragon in the 12th minute. Michele Pataia brought the ball into the box just to the left of Barbero, and sent a cross to del Rosario, on the left edge, who tapped the ball by Barbero for the score. The Dragons made it 2-0 when del Rosario finished a corner play from John Grosh and Tal Bublil, powering home the ball after Bublil's header was blocked.

Delaware countered with goals in the 66th and 85th minutes, making an unlikely comeback against a Drexel team that had gone 7-1-1 when scoring at least two goals during the regular season. The Dragons rebounded, though, pressuring the Delaware defense in the closing minutes of regulation and regrouping on the defensive end through 20 minutes of overtime play.

The Blue Hens outshot Drexel 22-12 for the day, as they were playing catch-up for most of the game.

When the shootout started, the Dragons missed their first shot. After Nathan Page and Michele Pataia converted their looks, an Afflerbach save in the third round of PKs got Drexel back even. But then, the Dragons missed yet another on their fourth attempt. With their fifth and final shot of the standard shootout, senior defender Jared Girard roped one past Barbero to put the pressure on the CAA Rookie of the Year, Guillermo Delgado, who held down the anchor position for Delaware.

The league's leading scorer and the goal-scorer in the 85th minute that had evened things up on Thursday, Delgado could not come through a second time in the shootout. He sent his shot wide to the left and giving Drexel new life. Robert Liberatore made his try in the sixth round, but Delaware countered. Del Rosario found the back of the net for the third time on the night with the Dragons' seventh shot, but again Delaware responded. Senior captain Tal Bublil kept the pressure on, but the Blue Hens found an answer in the eighth round.

The ninth man up for the Dragons was Fagundes, who had been on the sidelines throughout the cold evening in West Philadelphia. Coming in cold, Fagundes faked one way, making Barbero commit, then smoothly drove the ball into the middle of the goal mouth to put the Dragons up 7-6 in the ninth round. Drew Colletti stepped up next for Delaware, and as he challenged Afflerbach to the left, the freshman goalkeeper leaned the right way, dove to the ground and hauled in the ball to send his teammates erupting onto the field to celebrate.

The Dragons will make their first-ever CAA championship game apperance in front of their home fans on Saturday afternoon when they host William & Mary for the title. That game will kick off at 4:00 p.m. Tickets are free for all Drexel students with a valid Drexel student ID.