Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/30/13
From Press Release
The Drexel women’s lacrosse team defeated visiting UC Davis, 9-7, on Saturday afternoon at Vidas Field, spoiling the Philly homecoming of Aggies coach Kate Henwood.
The Dragons trailed by one-goal after 30 minutes of play, 5-4, and went on to outscore the Aggies, 5-2, in the second half. Drexel held a 22-16 advantage in shots and won 10 draw controls to UC Davis’ eight. The team improved to 7-3 overall and 4-2 at home, while the Aggies dropped to 3-7 on the season.
Henwood coached Garnet Valley to the past two PIAA championship and was the Phillylacrosse.com Coach of the Year in 2011. She is the first-year coach at UC Davis.
With just under six minutes off the clock in the first half, UC Davis’ Meghan Jordan wrapped around the goal from the right side of Drexel’s Teresha Bradley (Rancocas Valley) and released a low shot into the opposite side of the cage. Four minutes later, the Aggies were charged with a foul allowing Alissa Watts to set up around the eight-meter mark.
Watts converted on her free-position attempt to tie the game. At 11:57, opposing attacker Elizabeth Datino set up teammate Hannah Mirza for a close-range shot giving the Aggies another one-goal lead, 2-1. In the following possession, Kristin Kopenhaver received the ball from Joelle Hartke and fired a one-timer into the back of the goal to even the score.
Watts scored her second goal and helped the Dragons’ tally their first lead of the afternoon, 3-2. In the final four minutes of play, UC Davis registered three unanswered goals. Kelli Joran scored in the last eight seconds to cut the deficit to one-point, 5-4, entering halftime.
Alyse Maiden (Washington Township) netted a quick goal at the start of the second half to tie the game, 5-5. Less than a minute later, UC Davis’ Elizabeth Datino scored an unassisted goal to give the Aggies their fourth lead of the game. With 23:55 showing on the clock, J
Jessica Rudloff (West Chester East) found the back of the cage from Hartke’s pass. Maiden followed with a goal to give the Dragons’ a one-point lead, 7-6. At 15:57, visiting midfielder Stephanie Guercio tied the game for the sixth time. Joran and Maiden both added points to give Drexel a 9-7 advantage with less than 10 minutes remaining in the contest. The Dragons held on to the lead until the game clock expired.
Maiden scored her third hat trick of the season against the Aggies.
Amanda Norcini (Conestoga) set a new team-high with three caused turnovers. Norcini and Kopenhaver lead Dragons with 11 caused turnovers a piece. Bradley had five saves, including four crucial stops in the final 30 minutes of play. Opposing goalkeeper Kai Murphy made eight saves.
