Scott Hess vs. Muhlenberg 10/25/17
Dan Gittis
1
Elizabethtown ETOWN (10-7-2)
3
Winner Drew DREW (19-0-1)
Elizabethtown ETOWN
(10-7-2)
1
Final
3
Drew DREW
(19-0-1)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Elizabethtown ETOWN 0 1 1
Drew DREW 2 1 3

Game Recap: Men's Soccer |

Blue Jays can't deny No. 10 Drew in Landmark championship

MADISON, N.J. -- Many teams have tried, none have yet to succeed. Tenth-ranked Drew University got a pair of goals from tournament MVP Aidan Cserhat 1:17 apart in the first half and held on to defeat the Elizabethtown men's soccer team, 3-1, in Saturday's Landmark Conference championship game.

The Blue Jays fared much better than in their regular season trip to Madison, but could not find a way to slow the Rangers' magical run. Drew extended its winning streak to 16 games and improved to 19-0-1 overall in claiming its first conference title since the Landmark's inaugural season in 2007.

Cserhat put the hosts ahead 1-nil in the 21st minute, depositing an Andy Imoh pass into an open net. Imoh avoided a sliding Brian Gately at the top of the 18, sending a pass off to a wide open Cserhat at the left corner of the six and all the Rangers' leading scorer needed to do was tap it in.

Before Elizabethtown (10-7-2) could regroup, the same duo hooked up for a second goal 1:17 later. Imoh back-heeled a pass to a wide open Cserhat, catching two defenders off guard at midfield. Cserhat raced in unabated and blasted a shot over Gately from the center of the 18 for his 20th goal of the season.

Though the Blue and Gray had just one less shot in the opening 45 minutes and took two more corners (4-2), they could not put a shot past Drew goalkeeper Jason Adamo, who made all three of his saves in the first half.

Not even a minute into the second half, the Rangers struck again. Nifty ball control from Matt Asante and a pass over the top put Nate Race in 1-on-1 with Gately and Race went low right for a 3-0 lead.

E-town earned a penalty kick in the 66th minute when JD Haaf turned left around a defender and was taken down two steps inside the 18. Senior teammate Scott Hess stepped up and nailed it to the lower right, putting an end to Drew's shutout bid.

The Blue Jays would get two corners shortly thereafter, but were unable to turn those opportunities into any shots.

Gately made seven stops in the loss, his second highest total this season. The junior's shutout streak, which spanned parts of six games going back to Oct. 11, at Penn State Berks, ended at 458:13 on Cserhat's first goal.

Gilbert Waso and Marcos Urffer took two shots each for the Blue Jays, who don't seem destined to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship for the second year in a row after falling to No. 10 in the latest Mid-Atlantic Regional Rankings, released Nov. 1. Elizabethtown was making its third straight Landmark Conference championship game appearance.
 
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