Men's Soccer Tripped Up By No. 7 Washington, 1-0

Monday, September 7

Vidas Field

7:00

Drexel University

0-4-0

No. 7 Washington

3-0-1

Washington

Drexel

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Men's Soccer Tripped Up By No. 7 Washington, 1-0

9/7/2015 9:12:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - The Drexel men's soccer team opened its home schedule on Monday night and had a good showing against No. 7 Washington, but ultimately fell to the Huskies, 1-0. Washington's lone goal came on a penalty kick in the 38th mnutes when James Moberg just barely got his shot past the outstretched arms of Dragons goalkeeper Tyler Afflerbach.

It was a solid all-around effort for Afflerbach, who had seven saves and guessed right on Moberg's penalty kick, but could not quite get his hands on the shot. Afflerbach's best play of the night did not show up in the box score, though. In the 52nd minute, with the Dragons trailing by a goal, Afflerbach faced down a charging David Coly. The Huskies freshman had forced a takeaway near midfield and was streaking towards the goal with no one but Afflerbach to beat. The Dragons' junior keeper stepped up, meeting Coly 10 yards out of the goal mouth. He slid and prevented Coly from even getting off a shot as Afflerbach swiped the ball away cleanly to keep Drexel within a goal.

Afflerbach also had a highlight moment midway through the second half. In the 67th minute, Washington brought the ball into the box where Henry Wingo got off a shot from Afflerbach's right that the keeper dove to save. He popped up in time to punch away another shot, this one off the toe of Steven Wright. A third Washington shot, this one by Mason Robertson, sailed high to give Afflerbach and the Dragons a brief but well-deserved respite.

The Dragons (0-4-0) were unable to get that goal, but they had some good looks. Early in the game, Francisco Rodrigues da Palma, who had five of Drexel's 11 shots on the night, got a toe on a ball that ticked just over the crossbar and out of harm's way. In the second half, it was Xavier Bou Hernandez who had Drexel's best look. He took a pass standing 18 yards from goal, shooting a low laser towards the back post. Washington goalkeeper Auden Schilder could not reach the ball, but it hit off the outside of the post and out of play.

Drexel had seven corner kicks on the evening, pushing downfield when they were able to get control of the ball. Defensively, Drexel held Washington to 15 shots, with few outside the flurry midway through the second half giving Afflerbach significant trouble. In addition to Afflerbach, the Dragons had strong defensive play from Jameson Detweiler, Ilai Shvika, Chris Haskins and Aymen Ben Hadj Slama. Haskins and Slama made their first starts as members of the Dragons on Monday night. For Slama, it was his first appearance overall.

Just two of Drexel's 11 shots found their way on goal, but the looks were there for Drexel to post the first goal of the season by a Washington opponent. Unfortunately for them, they were not able to take advantage of the opportunities they did have. Drexel was held scoreless for the third time in four games, and was unable to pick up its first top-10 victory under head coach Doug Hess.

Drexel will return to action at Vidas Field on Saturday when they host Iona. That game will kick off at 7 p.m.