Men's Soccer On Three Game Winning Streak

Delaware's Men's Soccer team beat the Drexel Dragons 2-1 in a thrilling CAA matchup on Wednesday night. The two goals were scored by senior forward Darren Christie. This win means the Hens have won three games in a row for the first time since 1998. They have also won four out of their last five and are now 2-1 in CAA play.

The Hens have finally returned to full-strength and look like a completely different team than earlier in the season. The return of junior Abdul Faisal Alhassan-Chibsah into the midfield has played a huge part of the Hens success. Chibsah gives the Hens another attacking threat in the middle of the field which helps free up space for Christie up top and captain Jon Scheer on the wings. Earlier in the year the Hens' lacked a creative force in the midfield and Christie and Scheer did not have enough space to attack. The Hens are also receiving a lot of contributions from their freshman. Brandon Paul has taken over the number one goalie spot and has gotten three shutouts, he also made a superb point-blank save towards the end of the Drexel game. Ben Raymond has added another attacking force, he has so far tallied one goal on the season and the versatile Dylan Gerstenfield has filled in at both left back and center midfield well. Gerstenfield has developed a great partnership in the middle with Ben Rodkey and thanks to the two of them, the midfield has done a much better job of keeping possession and controlling the game, yet another thing the Hens were failing at in the beginning of the year.

The backline has made huge strides along with the rest of the team. Led by veterans Kyle Davies and Mike Stone on the wings the defense was immense tonight. They got in the way, blocked shots, and forced Drexel to make difficult crosses. Freshman Darren O'Connor, who started the year off playing midfield, is a huge physical force in the center of the backline. O'Connor made tackle after tackle tonight and broke up many attacks before he was controversially sent off with his second yellow card. His centerback partner and fellow freshman Roberto Vernaschi, who had a slow start to year with some problems marking attackers especially in the Lehigh game, played his best game in his short career at Delaware. The defense was a huge reason the Hens were able to withstand the furious second half assault by the Dragons.

The Hens will try to make it four in row against Hoftsra this Saturday October 10th at 10:00 AM at Delaware Mini-Stadium. Check out the paper or online issue of the UDReview next Tuesday for a full recap, game story on the thrilling 2-1 victory over Drexel.