Men's Soccer Starts Road Stretch with 2-0 Win at UNCW

Wednesday, October 16

Wilmington, N.C.

7:00

Drexel University

6-5-2 (2-0-1CAA)

UNCW

6-5-1 (2-2-0CAA)

Drexel

UNCW

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Men's Soccer Starts Road Stretch with 2-0 Win at UNCW

10/16/2013 9:00:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

WILMINGTON, N.C. - The Drexel men's soccer team is back on track after a four-game winless skid, as the Dragons secured a 2-0 win at UNCW on Wednesday night. John Grosh and Guido Pena scored for Drexel, which now sits 2-0-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association nearly halfway through the league schedule.

Tyler Afflerbach made eight saves, a career high, in picking up his fifth shutout of the season. Afflerbach and the Dragons defense has now gone 231:33 since last allowing a goal, more than two full games ago.

On the other end of the spectrum, two weeks of frustration for the Dragons offense washed away in the 34th minute when Grosh connected for Drexel's first goal since a 3-2 loss at Penn on October 2. The Dragons had pushed the ball into the offensive zone, threatening the Seahawks' goalkeeper Sam Williams. UNCW kept Drexel from getting a shot off, however, as the Seahawks got to the ball and tried to knock it out of the box. Instead, the ball found Grosh at the top of the box, who roped a shot by Williams to put Drexel on top, 1-0.

That would prove to be all the Dragons would need, but they added an insurance goal shortly after halftime. In the 50th minute, Ken Tribbett took the ball on the right side after an entry pass on a corner kick. The Dragons' leading goal scorer with four this season, Tribbett dished out his first assist of the season as he fed the ball into the middle, finding a cutting Guido Pena who scored the insurance goal. It was the first goal of the season for Pena, who scored two last year in his first year in University City.

Afflerbach, who had not been called upon to make more than five saves in a game through his young career, had to make five in the second half on Wednesday. Four of those came after Pena's goal, although the Seahawks were unable to put together any sustained pressure. Their last look came one tick into the 86th minute, a shot by Jamie Dell that Afflerbach reeled in for his eighth save of the night.

The win began a stretch of five road games out of six contests to close the season for Drexel. The Dragons had played just four of their first 12 games on the road, and none of those outside the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Drexel will face one of its stiffest tests of the conference season on Saturday in its next outing, as the Dragons visit rival Delaware at 7:00 p.m.