The Drexel University women’s lacrosse team split its weekend matchups. The Dragons defeated the University of Delaware Blue Hens on the road April 15 and fell to the Towson University Tigers at home April 17.
The Dragons are now 9-5 overall and 2-2 in conference games.
“On any given night we need someone different to step up, and I’m excited to see who on our team will really own that mentality throughout the next couple games,” Coach Hannah Rudloff said.
The Dragons pulled off an impressive win in Delaware, seeing victory in Newark for the first time since 2012. The final score was 6-4.
Sophomore Nadia Pelham-Lacey and junior Devin Nihill scored a combined five goals during the contest.
Drexel got on the board first and scored four unanswered goals. They went into halftime with a 4-1 lead.
In the second half, the Blue Hens came out strong and scored three goals to tie the game up in less than 15 minutes. However, the Dragons responded and Pelham-Lacey scored a pair of goals to give Drexel the win.
Junior Carlee Ries had six saves on the day. Drexel won four of the 12 draw controls and only caused two turnovers. The Dragons picked up eight ground balls and acted as a defensive stronghold by only allowing 15 total shots.
The Dragons returned home April 17 to host the Towson Tigers. The Tigers defeated the Dragons 13-6.
“Towson is a great team, and we did a good job containing them in the first half. We definitely needed to be tougher against their fast breaks, and that’s something we will be focusing on going forward,” Coach Rudloff commented on the team’s defensive performance against Towson.
Nihill had two goals to lead the Dragons in scoring for the day. Pelham-Lacey, junior Lacey Aghazarian, freshman Grace Osterdale and freshman Maggie Stetson each had a goal apiece in the loss. Nihill became the first Dragon to tie Alyse Maiden’s 2013 record, scoring 30 goals in a season.
Aghazarian, scoring her 18th goal of the season, put the Dragons on the board first off a forced turnover from the opening draw.
The Tigers responded with four unanswered goals and led 6-2 going into the halftime break.
In the second half, Nihill appeared to have scored again. However, the play was ruled a no goal due to a dangerous shot call. The Tigers capitalized on the yellow card to bring the score to 7-2.
Drexel fought back with three goals of their own, while only allowing one. The score was 8-5 with just under 20 minutes to play.
The Tigers went on a final run and the Dragons could not overcome the goal deficit.
Drexel will return to action when they face off against Elon University. “Elon is a strong team this year, and we have plenty to prepare for on both the offensive and defensive ends,” Coach Rudloff said.
The Dragons will host the Phoenix on Friday, April 22 at Vidas Field.