After two previous losses to Coastal Carolina and Hofstra, William and Mary added another defeat to its record when it fell to Drexel by a narrow 15-13 margin at home April 7.
Sunday’s game got off to a quick start, as both the College and the Dragons scored three goals in the first six minutes. The Dragons were the first to strike, as midfielder Claire Jarema took the first goal in the game. Setting the tone for the game, the Dragons would continually score as the College would play catch-up.
17 minutes into the first half, the Dragons pulled ahead when attacker Grace Osterdale scored her second goal of the season to bring the score up to 6-5.
Freshman midfielder Lauren Russell was instrumental to the College’s offensive efforts, scoring her third goal in the first half with five minutes left, bringing the tally to 7-6 in the Dragon’s favor.
“The freshmen consistently step up and that’s what’s exciting but at the same time, we need everybody to be stepping up,” head coach Hillary Fratzke said. “Those are people who don’t necessarily have as much on field experience but they’re playing like it, but why can’t we all just choose to be that tenacious in every single second? We’re capable of it and it’s something we need to work through as a team.”
Starting the second half, the tally was 8-6 with the Dragons in the lead, but they were not content to sit around. Within two minutes, the Dragons extended their lead by two goals thanks to attackers Colleen Grady and Jarema, bringing the score to 10-6.
Subsequent goals by Tribe senior midfielder Olivia Harpel and freshman midfielder Grace Ahonen brought the score to 10-8 and put the College within striking distance of the lead.
“I do think that focus errors lost us the game and that’s really disappointing because if you change your focus errors that’s something that you can control,” Fratzke said.
In the 12th minute, the Tribe was finally able to catch up to the Dragons’ momentum, with a free position made by freshman midfielder Belle Martire. However, two minutes later, Dragons midfielder Caroline Cummings put Drexel ahead, bringing the score to 11-10. With 13 minutes left in the game, Russel scored her 22nd goal of the season, once again equalizing the score.
Just a few seconds later, Russel scored yet again to give the College a 12-11 lead. It seemed as if the Tribe could power forward to take the game, but a free–position shot from Jamie Schneidereith ultimately allowed the Dragons to take back their lead in the final five minutes.
The nail in the coffin for the Tribe was the Dragons’ final goal scored by attacker Courtney Dietzel, which brought the final tally to 15-13.
“If could go back, I would just do ground balls for the entire practice on Friday and today,” Fratzke said. “It was 50–50 for ground balls and it came down to focus. It’s not like we didn’t know how to do ground balls, we just weren’t focused. Frankly, I think that ground balls just cost us the game.”
The Tribe will compete against Delaware on April 12 at Martin Family Stadium, where it hopes to take a win after a three-game losing streak.