WAGS Tournament: Drexel hopes to continue roll, find new talent

By Roger Gonzalez

Drexel University’s women’s soccer team is having one of its best seasons in years.

At 10-2-2 so far this season, including 1-0 wins over Philadelphia-area rivals Penn and Temple, the Dragons are near the top of the Colonial Athletic Conference, looking to fight for the crown. With dominant play of late, quality cohesion and sterling defense, Drexel is proving to be an emerging program on the East Coast.

This weekend, the team’s assistant coach came down to Virginia to the 37th Annual WAGS Rael Vodicka Memorial Tournament to scout talent to keep the program’s high rolling for future seasons.

“This has been good for this tournament,” said Don Overmier. “It’s rough with the college season going on and high school season go on…So far, it’s been a pretty good level of talent.”

The sixth-year assistant coach has eight spots available due to seniors leaving after this year, so the coach has been focusing on the recruits on display, looking at many players from Pennsylvania and the surrounding states.

“Anything that is really going to be an impact in our program,” said Overmier as to what he is looking for.

Overmier praised the setup of the competition, comparing it favorably to others he has attended while spending time with various coaches on the recruiting trail.

“The facility is nice,” he said. “We’ve got a couple parks that are relatively close. The travel is not too bad between locations.”

Shifting focus from the recruiting trail to big CAA battles, the coach hopes the on-field success continues.

“[It’s] one of our best seasons in the program’s history,” he said. “[We’re] off to a good start. Hopefully it ends on the same note.”

He hopes the recruiting season ends with some commitments from players on display this weekend.

“There is a very wide pool of youth players out there right now, a lot of young soccer players, so [we’re looking for] anything that is going to be impactful,” Overmier said.