CAA here we come!

Before we get started:  I forgot to mention that Freshman Tal Bubil  & Nate (either Page or Baker depending on whether you read the CAA site or Drexel's) were named to the All-Tournament Team of the Embassy Suites Kick-off Classic down in Florida last weekend.  Either way, all three are great players, so congrats gentlemen!  

Colonial Athletics Association play is under way this weekend!  That means that Drexel is back to 0-0-0.  For most teams in the CAA this is the reality, no matter how well you do out of conference, if you're not on top by the end of the playoffs your not gonna see that "N" at the beginning our your tournament name when you finish the season. 

We'll start with a little history!:  In the past 10 years 7 different teams have won the conference championship each year, so this thing can and WILL get real competitive.  Over the past 3 seasons The Dragons have had quite a bumpy ride in CAA play.  In 2007 (my favorite year) Drexel won the conference in the regular season with a phenomenal defensive unit that had our goalkeeper (now Graduate Assistant Coach Cory Robertson) ranked 6th in goals against average nationwide at the end of the season.  Our defense was frighteningly good, but we had an unlucky loss to Towson in the semi-finals of the CAA tournament and missed out on the NCAA.  In 2008 (my spine still hurts) we returned with basically the same starting team (minus 2007 MVP, my fellow centerback Mark Stevensen).  That year we manager to shoot ourselves in the foot repeatedly throughout the course of the CAA, somehow squeezing ourselves out of the playoffs in the last 3 games of the season when all we needed was one tie.  Having half of our starters wiped out or nearly incapacitated by career ending injuries didn't help either.  In 2009 the boys started in a tough position.  They had lost 2 captains from 2008, 1 captain to injury right away in 2009, half the starting team and all the senior leadership when the class of 2008 (that's The Ineligibles) graduated.  That being said, neither Tiger Woods or even Bill Clinton would contemplate denying that 1-9-1 in the conference was absolutely disgraceful.  Exit Philadelphia legend Lew Meehl to retirement, along with assistants Woody Hartman and Rick Tompkins.  

Enter a fresh new look in Doug "The Red Dragon" Hess and assistant Brian Green.  So far the 2010 Dragons have been off to a decent start (4-1-1) and are looking way more offensively dangerous than Drexel has looked in a good few years.  However, its been anything but smooth sailing past the first few games for Drexel.  Racking up more yellow cards & red cards than shots on goal in some games can't be a good sign...

NEWS:  Drexel will kick-off their CAA run down in Williamsburg Virginia tomorrow night at 7:00pm to face William & Mary (Directions for those dedicated parents making the trip down).  Check out William & Mary's website for LIVE STATS on the game.  William & Mary lost their CAA opener to Old Dominion this week 0-1 (Box Score), Drexel will be looking to deal them a tough second loss in the conference.  Aside from travelling to Bucknell next week, Drexel has nothing but CAA games left from here on out.  Best of luck boys, LET'S GO DU!

    

Now for predictions!:  I have to start with crediting Brandon Fischer for cynically predicting the outcome of the 2009 CAA season, stating (often repeatedly) - "They're poop, they won't win 2 game this year! Pooooooop Squaaaaad!"  Well done Fisch, credit is due there, but this is 2010 so hopefully things turn out differently.  Being a little bit too busy lately to give any kind of educated prediction of my own for 2010, I am going to say instead that we'll  finish 5-4-2 and miss the playoffs sitting at 6th on the table by the end of it all.  Of course I hope that the boys rise to the occasion and prove me wrong.  I know first hand how difficult the CAA is, I just hope our boys figure out quickly how tough it really is.  They certainly have it in them, but can they pull it together for the long haul in what is always a brutal CAA conference run?

Check out the official write up on drexeldragons.com
Check out the rest of the upcoming CAA match-ups on caasports.com