Photo courtesy Drexeldragons.com
The Drexel University women’s lacrosse team split their games this weekend, taking a tough loss against James Madison University April 8 and defeating the College of William & Mary 11-8 for a team cumulative score of 8-4 this season.
In both games, the Dragons showed strong offense.
“I was really pleased with the composure our offense had in both games. Both teams sent extra pressure to our leading scorers, and our players not only handled that pressure, but distributed the ball for wide open looks,” coach Hannah Rudloff said.
The Dragons fell to the Dukes 9-8 in overtime.
Devin Nihill led the Dragons with three goals. Emily Duffey contributed a goal and two assists. Lacey Aghazarian, Nadia Pelham-Lacey, Grace Osterdale and Maggie Stetson were each responsible for one goal.
With less than 15 minutes remaining in the game, Drexel had an 8-6 lead. Unfortunately, immediately after Nihill’s goal brought Drexel’s score to eight points, the Dukes stole the ball and scored two points making it a tied score.
With 1:35 left in the game, Duffey made a shot on the goal. While her attempted winning shot passed the Dukes’ goalie, it bounced off the far post.
The teams entered into overtime and the Dukes were able to take the victory.
The Dragons’ defense played well throughout the contest. Alyssa Kalitz forced three turnovers, while Madeline DiBrino forced one turnover and had two ground balls.
Drexel returned to action April 10 to face the College of William and Mary. The Dragons defeated the Tribe 11-8.
Drexel got on the board first and scored four unanswered goals to start the game. William & Mary scored four goals of their own later in the first half, but the Dragons entered halftime with a 6-4 lead.
The Tribe came out strong in the second half, scoring three consecutive goals, but the Dragons responded with four goals in a row to regain the lead. Drexel’s defense held William & Mary at seven points for almost 20 minutes.
Coach Rudloff described the Dragons’ defensive mentality during the second half of the game.
“We definitely had a mental lapse at the beginning of the second half against William & Mary, and the solution was really just self-awareness and focus,” Rudloff said.
“Part of that lapse was with the draw controls, and we got back on track with those and were able to maintain possession much better,” she finished.
Nadia Pelham-Lacey scored three goals, one of those the winning shot, and had one assist. She now has eight games this season with at least three points each. Lacey Aghazarian and Devin Nihill each also scored three goals, earning Aghazarian her first hat trick of the season and bringing Nihill’s team high goal total to 26 this season. Caroline Thiele and Grace Osterdale each scored one goal.
The Dragons will travel to the University of Delaware and Towson University for their next conference matchups.
“We are going to prepare for Delaware and Towson this weekend by looking at improving our own play. We absolutely have things we need to learn from our games in Virginia, and we just need to keep getting better every day,” Rudloff commented.
The Dragons will face the Blue Hens April 15.
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