Finals Recap
Even with an 85% chance of winning, no one expects a conference championship to be a 6-1 game.
The first goal of the game, came just 33 seconds in on Delaware's first possession. Berber Bakermans found Kiki Oudshoorn to make the score 1-0. Drexel then played some good defense to keep Delaware quiet for a few minutes. In the 6th minute, Genevieve Johnson found her way into the circle and took a shot, but Megan Hadfield was able to save this one. A minute later, Oudshoorn took another shot, but it was blocked by a defender. After another few minutes of play, Delaware took another corner. After the initial shot was saved by Hadfield, Noelle Sabbagh picked up the rebound and made the score 2-0. Right after, Delaware was able to force a turnover and picked up another corner. This time, Julia Duffhuis was able to get the initial shot in, for a 3-0 lead going into the break.
A minute into the second, Delaware was awarded a corner. The shot from Valentina Matrorell went wide. Two minutes later, they received three more corners. The three shots were all saved. Drexel was able to get a shot at the end of the quarter, but the ball went wide.
A minute into the third, Lisa Becker found Ashlyn Carr for a goal, and then 25 seconds later Oudshoorn found Becker, making the score 5-0. By 3 minutes into the quarter, the score was 6-0. Grace Hoepfner tipped a ball from Julia Duffhuis in for the sixth goal for Delaware. Drexel took a penalty corner in the 33rd minute, but nothing came of it. After some more offensive attempts from Delaware, Drexel started to get some offense. They received a penalty corner in the 40th minute, but both shots were saved by Lizzie Gaebel. They got two more shots a minute later, but both were saved. Delaware went back into the circle and got a corner, which went wide. Then Drexel went back down the field to pick up three more corners. The first shot was blocked, the second was saved by Gaebel, and the final shot went wide.
Delaware once again started the quarter with some offensive pressure, with three shots. Megan Hadfield saved two of the shots, while the other went wide. Drexel then got a corner, but the shot was saved. In the 51st minute, Drexel received another corner. Taylor Mason was able to find Natalie Foster, who tipped the ball in, to make the score 6-1. Drexel had another corner torwards the end of the game, but the shot was blocked.
Delaware is your 2022 CAA champion, and will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.
Finals Preview
How they got here:
Drexel went 12-7 overall and 3-3 in the CAA. Their conference losses came against Delaware, Northeastern, and Monmouth. They also lost to Maryland, Saint Joseph's, Yale, and Temple in the regular season. Their highest margin win came against Georgetown in a 6-0 win. They entered the tournament as the #4 seed and upset #1 Monmouth in the semifinals.
Delaware had an 8-11 regular season, but a 5-1 CAA season. They had a slow start to the season an eight-game losing streak starting in their second game of the season. While on the losing streak, they fell 2-3 to CAA opponent, Monmouth. 7 of the 8 losses were against ranked teams. They then went on the win the remainder of their CAA games, while also losing games to Old Dominion, Harvard, and Penn. They entered the tournament as the #2 seed. They played Northeastern in the semifinals and won 6-1 with Julia Duishuff scoring a hat-trick.
Key Players:
Drexel:
Eline Di Leva - Di Leva is a junior forward from the Netherlands. She leads the team in goals with 10 and in points with 23. Her shot-on-goal percentage is 0.813.
Isabel Jacobs - Jacobs is a senior midfielder from the Netherlands. She leads the team in assists with 8. She also has 2 goals for the season.
Taylor Mason - Mason is a fifth-year back from Pennsylvania. She has 4 goals and 7 assists this season. She leads the team in shots with 58, averaging 3 shots per game.
Delaware:
Julia Duffhuis - Duffhuis is a junior back from the Netherlands. In the last game, she scored a hat trick to add 3 more to her total of 11 goals for the season. She has taken 66 shots this season. She is 1-2 for strokes this year.
Berber Bakermans - Bakermans is a junior midfielder from the Netherlands. She is tied for first on the team in assists with 11. She has also scored 4 goals this season.
Ashlyn Carr - Carr is a senior midfielder from Delaware. She ties Bakermans for most assists with 11. She has a 0.733 shot-on-goal percentage. She is also 1-1 for strokes.
Previous Matchups:
These teams haven't seen each other since the end of September when Delaware ended their losing streak with a 2-1 win. Duffhuis and Bakermans scored for the Blue Hens. Avery Powell scored off an insert from Mason on a penalty corner for Drexel.
In the all-time record, Delaware has won 31 of the 40 matches. They are currently on a 8-game win streak against the Dragons. The last time Drexel won, was in 2015.
Prediction:
Delaware has an 85% chance of winning the CAA tournament.
Semifinals Recap
Drexel vs. Monmouth
In a major upset, Drexel beat Monmouth 3-1 to make the tournament finals for the first time since 2012.
Drexel came out with high pressure. They had a series of three corners in the three minutes. They were able to get five shots, but Phileine Hazen made two saves for Monmouth to keep them off the board.
In the second, Monmouth was able to get three early corners but both shots from Annick van Lange were blocked. Drexel then got a corner, but the shot was saved by Hazen. After a bit of back and forth, van Lange was able to score off a reverse shot to put Monmouth in the lead 1-0.
Their lead was not held for long. 23 seconds into the third quarter, Avery Powell scored off a penalty corner to give Drexel a goal. Monmouth then had six more shots but was not able to find anything. Drexel grabbed a pair of penalty corners, and on the second Stephanie Oleykowski tipped on in for the 2-1 Drexel lead.
Drexel got the go-ahead goal 28 seconds into the final quarter off of a corner. Other than a singular corner, Monmouth was not able to find much offense.
Drexel will play Delaware in the finals on Sunday.
Northeastern vs. Delaware
Someone give Julia Duffhuis player of the tournament! Duffhuis scored three goals in the 6-1 win against Northeastern.
Northeastern had some early shots but did not come up with anything in the first.
Delaware started with early pressure in the second, getting a corner and the three shots. In the 18th minute, they were awarded a penalty corner, which Duffhuis sent into the back of the cage. After returning to the game from a yellow card, Emmy Stubbs converted a penalty corner in the 25th minute to make the game 1-1. 20 seconds later, Delaware answered with a corner and another goal from Duffhuis. The quarter ended with a pair of corners for Northeastern, but they could not find the back of the net.
Northeastern started the third with a corner that was blocked. In the 36th minute, Genevieve Johnson scored the third goal of the game for Delaware. 2 minutes later, Ashlyn Carr sent a penalty stroke in for a 4-1 lead. With a minute remaining in the quarter, Noelle Sabbagh scored again for the Blue Hens making the score 5-1.
At the start of the fourth, Delaware received another corner and Duffhuis made the score 6-1. Northeastern had some last-minute pressure with a corner and three shots but did not come up with anything.
Delaware will play Drexel in the finals on Sunday.
Semifinals Preview
The Colonial Athletic Association tournament begins Friday, November 4th at 1 pm.
The matches are as follows:
Game 1: Drexel vs. Monmouth
Game 2: Northeastern vs. Delaware
Drexel vs. Monmouth
The last time these two teams saw each other was Friday when Monmouth won 4-2. Drexel put up a good fight, with 10 saves and 12 shots, but Monmouth came out successful.
All-time the teams are even at three wins each. 5 of the 6 games have come since 2016. The other game was a 2-0 Drexel win back in 2001. However, only two games have been played against each other with players from their current rosters. They faced each other in 2022 and then in 2019.
Based on the 2 games played since 2019, Monmouth has an 83% chance of winning.
Northeastern vs. Delaware
When the Blue Hens played the Huskies a few weeks ago, it took shootouts for Delaware to come out with the win. The game went 2-2 in regulation after Delaware started the second half of the game down.
That game was a strong indicator of the overall record between the two teams, which is even at 17-17. However, Delaware is currently on a 12-game winning streak that started back in 2013.
Based on the four games played from 2019 to now, Delaware has a 69% chance of winning the game.