No. 18 Elon Tops Men's Soccer in CAA Opener, 3-1

Friday, September 18

Elon, N.C.

7:00

Drexel University

1-6-0 (0-1-0)CAA

No. 18 Elon

7-0-0 (1-0-0)CAA

Drexel

Elon

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

No. 18 Elon Tops Men's Soccer in CAA Opener, 3-1

9/18/2015 9:12:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

ELON, N.C. – The Drexel men's soccer team was unable to keep the momentum going after an exciting victory over Penn on Tuesday night, falling to 18th-ranked Elon in the teams' Colonial Athletic Association opener on Friday night, 3-1. Aaron Thompson scored the Dragons' lone goal in the 73rd minute to prevent the shutout, but the Phoenix had struck with a pair of first half goals to take control of the game early.

The Dragons (1-6-0, 0-1-0) had just two shots on the evening before Thompson scored his first goal of the season and first in two seasons with Drexel. They finished with four, two of which went on net. Thompson's score came off a feed from his brother, Tristan Thompson, who picked up his first point of the year and his first collegiate assist when he found his brother after the Dragons had forced an Elon turnover in the Phoenix's own zone.

Elon had built a comfortable lead by the time the Thompsons struck, however. The Phoenix got on the board in the 19th minute when Cooper Vandermaas-Peeler took a touch pass from Nicholas O'Callaghan in the box and poked it past Drexel goalkeeper Tyler Afflerbach. Less than five minutes later, O'Callaghan scored on his own when a deflected ball found its way to him in position to score.

Elon would take the 2-0 edge into halftime. After intermission, the Phoenix kept up the pressure with six shots in the first 18:11 of the period. The sixth of those, off the foot of Taylor Adler, found the back of the net to give the Phoenix a three-goal lead.

Afflerbach, who faced seven shots on goal, was able to stop four of them. Francisco Rodrigues da Palma had a pair of shots, the only two Drexel managed in the first half. Connor Ryan also had a shot on goal in the closing minutes.

Drexel will return to action on Tuesday evening, back at Vidas Field as the Dragons welcome Saint Joseph's into University City. The game will be the second Philadelphia Soccer Six matchup of the season for the Dragons, and will kick off at 7:00 p.m.