Spring Break
No. 17 Drexel rebounds from loss
Mike Mazzeo
Issue date: 10/10/08 Section: Sports
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However, two unanswered goals by the Dukes later the Dragons were behind, and could not stage a late comeback as they were held scoreless in the second half of a 2-1 loss to the Dukes Oct. 3.
"It was a tough one because we were so close," sophomore forward Christina Mastropaolo said. "It was a game of frustration. We basically pulled out all the stops and gave them everything we had. I hate to say it, but they're just a great team."
But after the game, coach Denise Zelenak gave her team some words of advice that kept it from getting down about the loss, and more importantly kept the Dragons from getting swept on their two-game Virginia road trip.
"She just told us not to hang our heads and that we're going to see them [JMU] again," Mastropaolo said.
The team responded in its next game against VCU just two days later thanks to the incredible individual efforts of Mastropaolo.
Trailing 2-1 in the second half, she tallied the equalizer just 55 seconds in and added the eventual game winner off a deflection less than seven minutes later as Drexel (9-3, 3-1 CAA; No. 17 NFHCA National Poll) came back and claimed a 3-2 victory over the Rams Oct. 5.
"It was a great win," Mastropaolo said. "VCU has been losing their conference games but they've been taking every team to overtime so they were out to get us. It was just nice to leave the weekend feeling good with a win."
In arguably her best performance of the season, Mastropaolo also added an assist to her pair of goals, and now has five tallies over her last three games.
More impressively, she has accomplished all this after coming off an injury, which has limited her to just eight games and three starts this year.
"I was hurt in the first half of the season, so coming back it's just great to be able to play again," Mastropaolo said.
Now, with seven CAA games remaining, the Dragons will try to continue to maintain their No. 17 ranking.
They are seeking to become the first the first Drexel team since 1996 to make the NCAA Tournament.
"It feels awesome," Mastropaolo responded when asked about her team's ranking. "There's no other way to explain it we're making history. We had high expectations for this year and we didn't know where we were going to be exactly. It's just great to know that all of our hard work finally paid off."
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