Drexel University
Iona
Baker's Blasts Lift Drexel Over Iona, 3-0
9/29/2007 8:26:36 PM | Men's Soccer
Philadelphia, Pa. – Freshman Nate Baker (Andover, Mass./Andover) scored his first collegiate goal in the 16th minute and followed it 11 minutes later with his second tally to give Drexel (3-2-2) a 2-0 lead in the first half in the Dragons' 3-0 victory over Iona (4-6).
Baker's first tally as a Dragon came in transition as the freshman teed up a ball from 30 yards out and scorched a drive into the upper left corner of the net. The blast put Drexel on top 1-0 at the 15:12 mark and set the tone for the Dragons in the first half. Drexel went on to out-shoot Iona 7-3 in the first 45 minutes of play.
Junior defender Pat McCaffery (Langhorne, Pa./La Salle College) set up Baker's second score. After drawing a foul on near the sideline at midfield, McCaffery took the kick on the set piece and served a beautiful ball from midfield to the left side of the goal where Baker sprinted in and finished it with a volley to give Drexel a commanding 2-0 lead.
Fabio Assumpção (Alves, Brazil/Colegio Batista Brasiliero) put in the final goal in the 76th minute after a nice build up and set up from his brother Thiago to make it 3-0.
Drexel keeper Cory Robertson (Scottsdale, Ariz./Horizon) made four saves to earn his first shutout of the season. Robertson was forced to make some acrobatic break-ups of Gaels' service in the second half to earn the blanking.
He was also helped by superb defense in the goal box on several corner kicks, as Iona out-cornered the Dragons 7-2. On one Gaels' corner kick, about 25 minutes into the second half, Robertson was taken out while attempting to punch the ball clear of the crowded goal box. But consecutive headers by Iona's leading scorer Bryan Oelkers were headed away by Baker and McCaffery to negate the threat.
Iona had its chances to score in the second half, outshooting the Dragons 9-4 in the period, but could not capitalize. Robertson made an impressive diving save of what appeared to be a sure tap-in goal for Iona midfielder Michael Ferenci with eight minutes remaining in the match. Another scoring chance was thwarted when Robertson cut off the angle on a break-away attempt by Aly Lo, forcing Lo to shoot wide of the goal.
The victory snaps a two-game losing skid for the Dragons who open conferece play next weekend on the road at James Madison and Virginia Commonwealth.
Scoring Summary
Goals: 15:12 Drexel Nate Baker (unassisted)
36:39 Drexel Nate Baker (McCaffery)
75:39 Drexel Fabio Assumpcao (T. Assumpcao, Feffer)
Shots: D 11, I 12
Corners: D 2, I 2
Saves: Robertson (Drexel) 4, Binstock (Iona) 2
Cards:
(Yellow) McCaffery (Drexel), Ferenci (Iona), Nicalek (Iona)
