Drexel University Athletics
Drexel University
St. Peter's
St. Peter's Hands Drexel First Home Loss of the Season, 2-0
9/16/2008 9:48:40 PM | Men's Soccer
Philadelphia – St. Peter's (2-1-2) scored in early in both periods to hand the Dragons their first home loss of the season. Drexel (2-2-2) outshot the Peacocks 20-9 and produced a number of quality offensive chances, but the Dragons could not capitalize despite their best efforts and a one-man advantage for the majority of the second half.
Udi Niam and Dimitri Pelts registered the goals for St. Peter's, who improved to 2-1-2 on the season. The Dragons played without their top defender, Bryan Ruff (Enfield, Conn.), who was disqualified after receiving two yellow cards in the team's last match. Drexel was also without the services of its top midfielder, Fabio Assumpção (Sao Paulo, Brazil), who left in the first half with an injury.
After recording a clean sheet on Saturday against UMBC, the Drexel defense surrendered an early goal against St. Peter's Wednesday night. Just under five minutes into the match the Peacocks got a throw-in opportunity on the left side of field, about 15 yards from the end line. Assaf Sheleg took the toss and launched the ball into the goal box where Chris DeAbreu would eventually collect it and lift a cross to the left side. Udi Naim braced himself against a defender who was challenging for the ball and connected with the volley at eye-level, sending the ball twisting to the opposite side of the goal and past a diving Robertson.
Drexel had a series of good build ups in the fist half, but the team's best chance came in the 25th minute. Robertson broke up another dangerous throw-in by Sheleg but the bouncing ball remained precariously positioned in front of the goal. Greg Ermold (Shillington, Pa.) stepped in to clear the ball, at the same time starting a transition break for his team. Andrew Goldberg dropped a heal pass that caught Carlos Ruthner (Delran, N.J.) in full sprint on the left side. The tackle by Sheleg tripped up Ruthner, earning the defender a yellow card and the Dragons a free kick just outside the left side of the 18-yard box. Fabio Assumpção spun a low liner toward the goal, but keeper Hernando Santamaria had it measured to make the save.
Minutes later the Peacocks had a similar opportunity in transition, but Robertson timed his sprint off the line for a challenge that took the ball off the foot of the attacker just before the immanent strike.
The Dragons best opportunities in the first period came on high service aimed for headers in the goal box. The team nearly got an equalizer with 13 minutes left in the half on one such opportunity. Ermold connected with a Pat McCaffery (Langhorne, Pa.) serve on the left side, heading it toward the right of Santamaria in net. But the goalie dove for the far post just in time to make the save.
Drexel outshot St. Peter's 8-5 in the first half and 20-9 overall and outcornered the Peacocks 6-3. Santamaria made seven saves in net to earn the blanking. Robertson made three stops for the Dragons.
St. Peter's got an insurance goal about five minutes into the second stanza when a charging Dimitri Pelts chipped a ball through two defenders at the top of the box and collected his own ball for a volley past Robertson making it 2-0.
Drexel nearly struck right back less than a minute later as Ermold broke free and chased down a bouncing ball in the goal box. His low blast was quickly collected by Santamaria, however, to preserve the shutout.
The Dragons gained a one-man advantage when Rumen Kerekov was dismissed from the game on a red card in the 54th minute. Drexel would outshoot St. Peter's 10-2 from that point and earn three corner kicks, but failed to convert a score.
Santamaria, who earned his second shutout of the season, made one of his most impressive saves on a shot by Eric Lynch in the 66th minute. Lynch leapt to chip the ball in mid-air to the right of Santamaria who was shuffling left to meet the play. As the ball cleared the defender Santamaria picked it up and batted it down with his left hand while falling backwards.
Drexel is back in action on Sunday, Sept. 21 when the team travels to play Iona at 1:00 in its non-conference finale. St. Peter's will next play on Saturday at Adelphi at 7:00 p.m.
Scoring Summary
4:01 SPC Udi Niam (Chris DeAbreu)
50:08 SPC Dimitri Pelts (Udi Naim)
Shots: D 20, S 9
Corners: D 6, S 6
Saves: Santamaria (SPC) 7, Robertson (DU) 3
Fouls: D 12, S 12
Cards: Jereri Edwards (SPC), yellow (24:40); Yacob Rahav (SPC) yellow (51:28); Rumen Kerekov (SPC) red (53:24); Brandon Fischer (DU) yellow (67:15)
