Drexel University Athletics
Drexel University
UMBC
Dragons Draw With UMBC in Double-Overtime Thriller
9/13/2008 3:50:30 PM | Men's Soccer
Philadelphia – A thrilling double-overtime contest ended in Drexel's second scoreless tie of the season. Drexel (2-1-1) keeper Cory Robertson picked up his second shutout with a season-high nine-save performance. UMBC (3-1-1) keeper Steve King made seven stops in goal for the Retrievers.
After being outshot 7-2 in the first period, Drexel came out with vigor in the second half, outshooting UMBC 10-6 in the period. Substitutions Mike Crosse and Leland Raum helped elevate the energy level of the Dragons' offense, creating two scoring opportunities early in the period. After a quick up, Crosse earned a corner kick that eventually results in a bicycle-kick by Nate Baker in the 60th minute.
Robertson was equal to the task again when UMBC tested him midway through the second stanza. Kevin Gnatiko set up two chances, both of which required difficult saves and resulted in corner kicks. Robertson made two leaping deflections to break up both corners and hold UMBC off the board.
A Ryan Zimmer break-away chance with eight minutes left in the match required a smothering save by the keeper Steve King diving to his right. Less than two minutes later, Bafile led a fast break. The junior put a shot on goal on a dead sprint from 30 yards out, but King deflected it. Raum was there to gather the rebound and quickly tried to chip it over the charging King's head. But the keeper made a quick adjustment and made the save.
With less than two minutes left, Fabio Assumpção beat his defender one-on-one and crossed a pass that got behind the keeper. But the fortuitous feed did not find a connection as the Retrievers quickly cleared it away. It would be the last scoring opportunity in regulation and the game entered overtime for the second time this year for the Dragons.
Eric Lynch put a diving header just wide of the goal less than two minutes into overtime off a slicing cross from Bafile, setting the tone for Dragons in the extra period. Drexel outshot the Retrievers 5-1 in the first extra period.
In the fourth extra minute Lynch and Greg Ermold would blast volleys into traffic with both resulting in blocks. Minutes later Assumpção would set up Bafile for a nice chance in the box. He was quickly stripped of the ball and flung to the ground by a UMBC defender, however. Assumpção followed this chance with a low shot of his own from 18 yards out put directly on goal and saved by King.
Momentum swung for UMBC in the second overtime. Ruff picked up his second yellow card on a physical tackle on the right side of the 18-yard box. The disqualification left Drexel a player down for the remaining 7:25 of the match and gave the Retrievers a free kick just outside the box. The opportunity led to a point-blank blast by Andrew Bulls, UMBC's leading scorer, but Robertson smothered it off his foot to make the save. The Retrievers earned another chance when Bulls worked his way across the top of the box and drew a foul. The ensuing free kick, with the ball placed directly on the 18-yard line in front of the goal, went just over the net off the foot of Dan Bulls.
Cory Robertson made five first-half saves including two from close-range to keep the match scorless despite a 7-2 disparity in shots for the Dragons. UMBC's Levi Houapeu put in a quality half of work by creating several scoring opportunities for the Retrievers.
On the game Drexel outshot UMBC 21-16. Both teams earned five corner kicks in the contest. The scoreless tie is the second of the season for Drexel and the Dragons have not scored a goal in more than 310 minutes spanning their last four matches. Drexel will have a chance to break up their scoring drought next Tuesday, Sept. 16 at home against St. Peter's at 7:00 p.m.
