Photo by George Eichner

Boxscore

NEWARK, Del. - The No. 17 ranked University of Delaware field hockey team came up just short in its battle for the regular season Colonial Athletic Association title after the Blue Hens fell to No. 10 Drexel, 4-2, on Sunday afternoon at Rullo Stadium in the squad's final tune-up before the CAA playoffs begin next weekend.

Drexel (17-2, 7-1 CAA) burst out of the gate in the early part of the game, posting a pair of goals in the first four minutes of action. Although Delaware (12-5, 6-2) regrouped and fought hard for the remainder of the game, the squad simply could not overcome its early deficit.

Despite the loss, Delaware will enter next weekend’s CAA tournament as the No. 2 seed. The squad will face James Madison, who clinched a spot following a 3-2 double-overtime victory at Northeastern on Sunday. That semifinal bout will take place at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Top-seeded Drexel will square off with Hofstra in the first game of the playoffs. That contest is slated to begin at noon on Saturday. The championship bout will be on Sunday at 1 p.m. All games will be hosted by the Dragons at Buckley Field in Philadelphia.

With just over one minute expired in the first half on Sunday, Drexel capitalized on its quick transition offense as a fast break led to a 2-on-1 with goalie Noelle Diana. Outnumbered, the Blue Hen keeper could do little to stop the onrush as Christina Mastropaolo found Jen Cairone right on the doorstep to open the scoring.

Exactly two minutes later, Cairone came back for more. Set up by a nice pass from Carolina Gibernau, Drexel’s standout junior punched home her second goal of the game and eighth of the season.

Just over 10 minutes into the game, Delaware had its best shot to light up the scoreboard in the early going. On a penalty corner, Howard ripped an initial shot that was batted away by goalie Jenna Phillips. Rae Everson corralled the loose ball and fired a point-blank shot in front of the cage. Phillips was up to the challenge, however, as the freshman keeper stoned Everson’s blast.

After holding up against the Delaware attack, Drexel padded its lead. Following a phenomenal defensive save by Kayla Schweitzer that kept the Dragons off the board momentarily, the visitors earned a penalty corner and quickly took advantage. Mastropaolo fed Gibernau, who hit Jennifer Bolger with a beautiful pass that the senior quickly deposited into the back of the cage at 17:11.

With the game slowly slipping away, the Blue Hens went back on the attack. With 13 minutes remaining in the first half, the squad earned a penalty corner. Following an initial shot by Michelle Drummonds that was swatted away by Phillips, the ball ricocheted out to Kim Schlezes (above). After gaining control of the ball, she launched a laser past Phillips to bring the Hens back within two at 3-1.

Following halftime, Drexel regained its footing. Although Noelle Diana stymied an early Dragon shot, the hosts remained on the offensive. At 55:26, Cairone made a nice individual effort to break free from the Delaware defense for just long enough to find Mastropaolo, who quickly capitalized for her league-leading 27th goal of the season.

As time began to run out, Delaware earned a pair of penalty corners and unloaded three shots, but the Drexel defense was up to the challenge. Finally, with just under two minutes left in the game, the Blue Hens earned a penalty stroke after a scrum in front of the cage.

With the free opportunity, Howard took the stroke and uncorked a shot into the bottom left corner of the cage to pull Delaware back within two at 4-2. Unfortunately for the hosts, that was as close as the squad would get as the team was shut down during the final moments of the contest.

Delaware out-shot Drexel by a 14-11 margin and just trailed in penalty corners, 9-8. The Dragons benefitted from a strong defensive effort highlighted by Phillips’ performance in the cage. The freshman goalie finished the contest with 11 saves.

UD will now prepare for its match-up with James Madison on Saturday. In their only meeting during the regular season, the Blue Hens prevailed, 2-1, in Harrisonburg.