Riverdale, N.Y. (September 17, 2005)- In the 2005 home opener for Manhattan, the Lady Jaspers dropped a 1-0 decision to the visiting Drexel Dragons this afternoon at Gaelic Park. Manhattan outshot Drexel, 6-4, but could not find the back of the net, falling to 3-4-1 on the season. Drexel improves to 5-2-0.
The first half was scoreless, but Manhattan carried much of the play, controlling the midfield, but was unable to produce quality scoring opportunities. The Lady Jasper defense held the Dragons without a shot while tallying three of their own, but could not solve Dragon netminder Kaitlin Bond. Manhattan had its best chance with 13 minutes left in the first half, as
Jess Garcia put a ball on net that was cleared off the line by a Drexel defender.
Early in the second half Drexel turned up the offensive pressure. At the 50:33 mark Drexel's Casey Miller cross the ball into the middle, where Katie Kane flicked the ball on to the feet of Stacey Blevins, who beat Manhattan keeper
Alicia DeFino to the far post to give the Dragons the game's lone goal.
Drexel nearly doubled its advantage with 18:50 left in the game, but Krystyn Rossi's header went off the post.
The Lady Jaspers added an extra attacker late in the game, but could not come up with the equalizer.
DeFino tallied two saves on the day, while Bond recorded a clean slate, stopping all four shots she faced.
The Lady Jaspers get back in action on Friday, September 23, when they travel to Poughkeepsie, N.Y. to open up MAAC play at Marist. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.
