Ciufo and Mastropaolo Score Two Each in 4-1 Victory

Friday, October 2

Buckley Field

7:00

Drexel University

VCU

Ciufo and Mastropaolo Score Two Each in 4-1 Victory

10/2/2009 8:37:33 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

Philadelphia - Christina Mastropaolo and Susan Ciufo each scored twice as No. 11 Drexel defeated VCU, 4-1. The win moved Drexel to 9-1 (2-0 CAA) on the season while the Rams dipped to 6-3 (1-2 CAA). Jenna Phillips made eight saves, all in the second half, in earning her ninth victory in 10 games in the cage.

Drexel scored 10 minutes into the game as Jen Cairone sent a ball across the middle from the right side where Mastropaolo redirected it into the cage. The Rams answered as Chelsea Hill sent a pass in from outside the circle where Lindsay Jones touched the ball toward the cage. The ball deflected off a defender's stick and crept across the line and into the back of the cage. Drexel nearly regained the lead in the first half when Amanda Fleischut, in her first career start, sent a long pass ahead to Cairone on the right as the Dragons counterattacked. Cairone sent a centering pass that Mastropaolo let through to freeze VCU's goalie. Ciufo got a stick on the ball from the left side of the empty cage but her deflection went wide left.

After the break, Ciufo wasted little time giving Drexel its lead back as she took a pass from outside the circle and dodged through three defenders to get to the front of the cage. The junior fired a quick shot that gave Megan Botteri no chance to stop as she gave the Dragons a lead it would not relinquish. The Rams controlled the action for the next 10 minutes though and seemed on the verge of knotting the score. Phillips made four saves on three penalty corners in the span to maintain Drexel's lead. Finally the Dragons' counterattack broke through as Cairone picked up the ball on the defensive half and sent a long pass along the right sideline to Ciufo. The 2008 Third Team All-American dribbled past a defender and sent a centering pass to Mastropaolo who was alone with Botteri at the top of the circle. Mastropaolo dodged the goalie and dribbled into the empty cage to give the Dragons a key insurance goal. Less than four minutes later, Cairone drew penalty stroke when her shot on the doorstep was illegally touched by a defender. Ciufo stepped up to take the stroke and deposited the ball into the cage to cap the game's scoring.

While recording just one assist on the scoresheet, Cairone had a big hand in three of Drexel's four goals. Fleischut made a memorable starting debut shoring up the Drexel midfield in the absence of All-CAA First Teamer Kim Tunell. The Dragons outshot VCU, 13-12, though the Rams fired 10 second-half shots with many coming in the crucial 10-minute span that saw Phillips make several solid saves. The Rams earned eight penalty corners to the Dragons' three.

Drexel will return to action on Sunday, Oct. 4 for a showdown on Buckley Field with defending CAA regular season and tournament champion, James Madison. Game time is 1:00 p.m.