By Mitchell Weiser
The Drew Rangers women’s soccer team is off to a running start their 2016 fall season. The team has already played five games, which included one tie, two loses and two wins. However, the team has yet to play a Landmark Conference opponent, yet they have still impressed with wins against UMass Boston and Manhattanville College.
The Rangers opened their season off in Hackettstown, N.J. where they competed in the Cyclone Classic. Drew opened their season the tournament against the host school, Centenary College. Centenary jumped out to an early lead in the first period and never looked back. The Rangers would eventually fall to the Cyclones 1-0.
Drew bounced back the next day to complete an impressive tournament win against UMass Boston. The team jumped out to an early lead thanks to Caroline Kelly (’19) who scored the team’s first goal in the 25th minute. The team then added onto their lead in the second half with Sarah Burcaw’s (’20) goal in the 76th minute. The Rangers would eventually hold on to shutout UMass by a score of 2-0.
The Rangers then traveled to Purchase, N.Y. to make it a consecutive win by beating Manhattanville College. Drew was in for a much longer game against UMass, the contest against Manhattanville would eventually go into a second overtime. The team’s traded off goals in the first and second halves until the Rangers finally blew through the door to grab the win off of Burcaw’s second goal of the season. Kelly scored the first goal for the Rangers right before the end of the half. The second goal for the Rangers was completed by Erin Connors (’18) to tie the game right before the end of regulation. The Rangers would leave victorious and head home with a 3-2, double overtime win.
Finally, returning for their first home game, the Rangers faced Rutgers-Camden. The team put in a strong effort but came out with a tie for the Rangers first home game of 2016. The team once again needed double overtime where neither team would score in either of the overtime periods, which led to the tie. Kelly had her third goal of the season to tie the game in second period for the Rangers. The game would eventually conclude with a 1-1 tie.
The next day, the Rangers fell to Stockton University, which would be the team’s first home loss of the 2016 season. Stockton jumped out early in the second half where they scored four consecutive goals until the Rangers broke into the box score with Connor’s second goal of the season in the 88th minute. The team however would fall to Stockton by a score of 4-1.
The Rangers will look to capitalize on this home stretch, which will last until Tuesday, Sept. 20. Delaware Valley University rolls onto campus tomorrow, with the Rangers hopes set high to grab their first win on home turf. Following the two home games, the team will look to gain an edge on Landmark opponents as they head to Elizabethtown, Pa to take on Elizabethtown College, which will be their first Landmark matchup. The team has their eyes set on a great 2016 after a nice start against good opponents, they will have nine home games the rest of this season, so be sure to come out and support the Drew Rangers Women’s soccer team.
[Image courtesy of Drewrangers.com]
Sept. 16, 2016
