Drexel Women Get Dramatic Lacrosse Win Over William & Mary

PHILADELPHIA, PA 4/20/2012 – The Drexel Dragons women’s lacrosse team trailed by 4 goals with just over five minutes to play.  In order to pull out a victory everything had to go right for Drexel, and everything had to go wrong for the William & Mary Tribe for the rest of the game.  That does not happen often if ever.  Friday night at Vidas Field it did.  Drexel won an 11 – 10 battle in overtime.  Unbelievable, but true was the feeling of Drexel Coach Anna Marie Vesco.

“I was elated at the finish of the game,” Vesco said.  “I can’t believe it. How many years have I been doing this?  That was such an exciting finish.  Our girls knew we had to come up with the draws, we had to go directly to the goal, we had great fast breaks, and finally put some balls away.  We got some momentum and picked it up.  It was an exciting finish, and I am really elated right now.”

With 5:03 remaining in the game the Tribe got a goal from attack Kaleigh Noon, her third of the game, to take a 10 – 6 lead.  Drexel had many opportunities throughout the game, but could not score a goal.  It appeared that the Dragons were heading to their second straight loss, and put their chances of going to the CAA Tournament in jeopardy.  After the Noon goal Drexel got the ball off a draw control and got a quick goal from Senior attack Charlotte Wood with 4:43 to play.  After winning another draw Drexel pulled to within 10 – 8 on a goal by Sophomore midfielder Amanda Norcini.  The Dragons got a turnover that they converted into a score from Senior midfielder Lindsey Kovar at the 1:28 mark.

Charlotte Wood Who Scored 3 Goals

The Tribe was desperately trying to hold on for the win.  They had the ball as Drexel Senior defender Julia Lanzetta was assessed a yellow card with 44.1 seconds on the clock.  At the same time the William & Mary Coach was given a team yellow card which gave the ball back to Drexel.  The Dragons made it count when Junior midfielder Kelli Joran tied the game at 10 with 27 seconds on the clock.  An illegal stick call against Noon negated any chance the Tribe had to win the game in regulation.

In the first overtime period Drexel got the draw and held the ball until Joran found the back of the net again with 11 seconds to go in the stanza.  It turned out to be the winning goal as neither team would score in second overtime period.

“The win tested the resiliency of the Drexel players.  They felt the urgency of the moment and responded with the key plays the team needed to win.

“We had a high sense of urgency, probably the highest we had all year,” said Joran.  “There was so much on the line in this game.  William & Mary is a tough team, so we wanted to beat them.”

The reward was a win after the disappointment at Towson.  More importantly it gave Drexel a berth in the CAA Tournament.

“Our bench knew we were in the tournament after winning this game.,” Vesco said.  “This was a pivotal game after the close match at Towson.  I felt we deserved the Towson game, but we got it tonight and luckily came out on top.”

The Dragons outshot the Tribe by a 36 – 11 margin.  Drexel goal keepers Sophomore Amanda Santandrea and Freshman Teresha Bradley did not make a save in the game.  Tribe goal keeper Lucy Ferguson 14 shots which kept her team in front for most of the contest.

Wood had three goals for Drexel giving her a team leading 33 for the season.  Junior attack Alyse Maiden had a goal and 2 assists.  She leads the team in points with 49.  Joran scored 3, Norcini 2, while Kovar and Senior attack Jaclyn Klunder tallied once.

The Dragons improve to 10 – 5 of the season, and even their CAA record at 3 – 3. Many times Drexel found themselves on the losing end of a strange game.  Not this time.  Will it have an effect on them in the tournament?

“This was really important after Towson,” said Joran.  “We want to go into the CAA Tournament with a good feeling.”

BOXSCORE

Written By:  Glenn Papazian

 

 

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