Five Goals Propel Drew To ECAC Win

MADISON, N.J. - The Drew men's soccer team put a five spot on visiting St. Joseph's College in the first round of the ECAC Tournament at Ranger Stadium on Wednesday night.  Marc Chiarello (left) got the Rangers going with a header in the first half before Drew broke through with four more in the second half.  The Rangers will face Ramapo at 1 pm on Saturday in the semifinals of the ECAC Metro Tournament at Ramapo.  Jeff Rogers made seven saves for Drew (13-7) as the Rangers shut down St. Joseph's (14-6-3) offense which was ranked 3rd in the nation in goals per game.

The Rangers got on the board in the 24th minute with a goal as simple as you would like.  Greg Zizik put a corner kick into the mixer and Chiarello got free of his defender to head home low and hard for his first goal of the season.  The tally was the only of the first half on the cold, cold November evening.  Jeff Rogers made four saves in the first half with three being high quality stops.

Jim Rossi gave the Rangers some breathing room in the 51st by netting the insurance goal.  Dante LaPenta hit a great ball on a free kick that the big forward flicked in on his first touch inside the far post.

After the Rangers held off a short Golden Eagle surge, thanks to another quality save from Rogers, Drew piled on the goals in the last twenty minutes.  Greg Zizik slid past the keeper for his ninth of the season and third in three games in the 70th minute.  Just two minutes later Anthony Pisani helped create the Rangers fourth goal.  After he won the ball in midfield and passed to Zizik on the right side, the sophomore continued his run into the box where Zizik found him with a nice shipped pass.  Pisani controlled off his chest and crossed to freshman Jesse Puzio alone in front of the keeper.  St. Joe's keeper, Marco Saccoccio, saved Puzio's first effort, but couldn't stop him from point-blank twice.

Finally, Brendan Michael got his first collegiate goal in the 84th minute as he scored with a nice slotted shot from inside the 18.  Five was the final count, though the Rangers threatened a few more times.
The final score was indicative of the Rangers solid defensive effort which stifled the nation's third ranked offense.  Rogers had a fine game as he had all of the Golden Eagles long range shots covered.

Drew has a tough task ahead of them as they travel to face Ramapo on Saturday at 1 pm.  There will be a fan bus leaving from Drew with the sign-up sheet at the UC.