Men’s Soccer Claims First CAA Win with 2-1 Victory over William & Mary

Saturday, September 21

Vidas Field

6 p.m.

Drexel University

3-3-1, 1-1-0

William & Mary

0-4-2, 0-1-1

William & Mary

Drexel

Photo by: Greg Carroccio/Sideline Photos

Men’s Soccer Claims First CAA Win with 2-1 Victory over William & Mary

9/21/2019 8:24:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – Drexel men's soccer broke through with two goals in the final 31 minutes of play to earn their first points of the CAA campaign with a 2-1 victory over William & Mary on Saturday night. The Tribe (0-4-2, 0-1-1 CAA) proved a difficult defense to unlock for most of the game before tallies from Anthony Amore and Chris Donovan lifted the Dragons (3-3-1, 1-1-0) to victory.

William & Mary fired an early shot across the nose of Drexel, testing goalkeeper Cameron Sanders twice in the first eight minutes. Sanders answered the call both times, setting the tone for a courageous evening in goal. The redshirt-junior made a pair of saves and defended his airspace well, parrying away dangerous balls throughout the match.

The remainder of the first half settled into a defensive battle as neither team seemed able to break down the opposition. The Tribe held the Dragons to just two shots in the half, neither of which were on target. Likewise, Drexel did not yield another on-target attempt for the rest of the first.

Early on, the second half appeared destined for a defensive stalemate once again before an offensive explosion in the final half hour.

Anthony Amore scored his first-career goal in the 59^th minute to break the stalemate and take the lid off the match. The junior defender found himself in the heart of the W&M 18-yard box and received a cut-back pass from Yassine Elkahloun, which he calmly deposited in the right-hand side of the goal.

Deft dribbling by Chris Donovan earned a penalty kick in the 75^th minute as Donovan sliced into the box before being clumsily taken down. However, Drexel failed to capitalize on this golden opportunity, as Kyle Tucker's spot kick was kept out at by Kieran Baskett.

That penalty miss did little to dampen the Dragons attacking spirit as DU doubled its advantage in just over a minute. Tucker made amends with a gorgeous delivery on a free kick from deep in midfield, which Donovan headed in at the near post for his fifth goal of the year.

The scoring binge was not over yet as the Tribe got in on the spree in the 78^th minute. Alexander Levengood did not balk at his penalty kick opportunity, finishing his attempt in the bottom left corner.

The flow of the game was nearly perfectly balanced. Drexel enjoyed 55 percent of possession but was out-shot, 11-10. The Dragons made up for this with a 5-3 margin in on-target attempts. Both sides attempted six corners, and each team was whistled for double-digit fouls.

Drexel begins a stretch of three-straight on the road beginning on Tuesday at Princeton. The Dragons' also pay visits to conference foes James Madison (Sept. 28) and Elon (Oct. 5) before finally returning home to host Hofstra on Oct. 12.