Men's Soccer Topped Late at Villanova, 4-3

Tuesday, September 1

Villanova, Pa.

4:00

Drexel University

0-2

Villanova

2-0

Drexel

Villanova

Photo by: Ryan Samson

9/1/2015 6:48:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

VILLANOVA, Pa. – In a game of quick responses from both sides, the Drexel men's soccer team came up short in its bid for a final answering goal as they fell at Villanova, 4-3. The Dragons held leads of 2-1 and 3-2 before the Wildcats scored twice in a five-minute span late in the second half to sneak away with the victory.

Drexel (0-2) bounced back after an early 1-0 deficit, but could not hold its late leads as Villanova (2-0) won the first official Philadelphia Soccer Six match of the season.

The Wildcats controlled the pace early, holding possession and pressuring the Drexel defense. The Dragons held Villanova at arm's length for the first 11:30, but Miguel Polley found Max Kroschwitz for the Wildcats' first shot of the afternoon, a low laser to the far post that Drexel goalkeeper Tyler Afflerbach had no chance of stopping.

It did not take the Dragons long to respond. Less than four minutes later, Jameson Detweiler dished to a streaking Francisco Rodrigues da Palma, racing up the right side and into the box. Five yards into the box, da Palma drew a foul, earning a penalty kick which he converted to even the score.

Neither team was able to mount a serious scoring threat the rest of the first half. The Dragons held Villanova to just four total shots, with only the one going on goal. Drexel had five shots of its own, but did not test Wildcat keeper Will Steiner except for the penalty kick converted by da Palma.

Midway through the second half, the Dragons struck for their first lead of 2015. Again it was da Palma in the middle of the action. His shot from straight on near the top of the box was blocked, but no one was able to gain control until Colin McGlynn got a foot on it from the left side, roping one past Steiner and just under the crossbar in the 64th minute to put Drexel on top, 2-1.

As Drexel responded quickly in the first half, so too did the Wildcats in the second. Five minutes after the McGlynn score, Sean Sheridan evened things back up at 2-2 with a set piece from just outside the box. He curled it from Afflerbach's right over the keeper's left shoulder and just inside the crossbar.

Drexel retook the lead in the 77th minute. After earning a corner, McGlynn inserted the ball perfectly to the middle where Detweiler, the only Dragon to come into the season with multiple goals in his collegiate career, leapt above the crowd to head it inside the far post and beyond Steiner's outstretched arms. It was Detweiler's fourth-career goal and marked McGlynn's first-career assist and his first-ever game with three or more points.

Again, the Wildcats wasted little time responding. In the 81st minute, Padraic McCullaugh fed the ball into the box, where Kroschwitz flicked it to Sheridan, who headed it tantalizingly past Afflerbach's arms and into the near corner.

After coming up with a couple of answers, Villanova made a statement in the 86th minute. With just over four minutes to play, Christopher Bared slashed down the right side and skipped a cross to McCullaugh, whose sliding poke crept inside the post, putting the Wildcats on top for good, 4-3. Drexel had one final look in the closing seconds as da Palma got a foot on a high bouncing pass with no one around him in the box, but he could not get enough on it to tip it past the leaping Steiner.

The Dragons will not have long to sit on the loss, as they head to Bowling Green on Thursday for their next match. That game, the first ever between the Dragons and Falcons, is set for a 7 p.m. start.