No. 11 Penn State Defeats Women's Lacrosse, 9-8

Friday, March 22

Vidas Field

7:00

Drexel University

6-3

Penn State

6-3

PSU

Drexel

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

No. 11 Penn State Defeats Women's Lacrosse, 9-8

3/22/2013 9:23:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

Philadelphia - The Drexel women's lacrosse team fell in the final seconds of the game to No. 11 Penn State, 9-8, at Vidas Field. Junior Kelly Palace tallied her fourth goal of the night and tied the game, 8-8, with 54 seconds remaining in the contest. Penn State's Mackenzie Cyr scored the game-winning goal in the following play. The Dragons outshot Penn State, 26-22, and won 12 draw controls to the Nittany Lions' seven. The Dragons dropped to 6-3 overall.

Penn State's Kelly Lechner found the back of the cage twice to give the Nittany Lions a 2-0 advantage with just over 11 minutes remaining in the first half. Junior attacker Kelli Palace fired a low shot from close range to cut Penn State's lead in half, 2-1. At 5:19, opposing midfielder Tatum Coffey converted on a free-position attempt. Less than two minutes later, Penn State's Mackenzie Cyr connected with Maggie McCormick to give the visitors a three-goal cushion, 4-1, up until halftime.

In the opening minutes of the second half, senior attacker Alyse Maiden netted her 100^th career goal and cut Drexel's deficit to two points, 4-2. Penn State's Katie Guy answered back in the next play to bring the game back within three, 5-2. At 25:36, Maiden scored her second goal of the night sailing a shot high into the right side of the cage. Less than 60 seconds later, Jessica Rudloff fed the ball to Amanda Norcini, who was breaking towards the goal and blasted a shot into the goal, 5-4. The Dragons were within one point, until, the Nittany Lions added two points by Lechner and Coffey.

With 15:31 still on the clock, Palace broke across the crease and placed the ball past Penn State's goalkeeper. The Nittany Lions' Coffey registered an unassisted goal, 8-5. Drexel continued to pressure Penn State's defense and scored two goals in four minutes. Senior midfielder Kristin Kopenhaver won her third-straight draw fueling the Dragons into the attacking end. Palace weaved through defenders before bouncing the ball into the back of the goal tying the game, 8-8, with just 54 seconds left. Penn State's Katie Guy won the draw control and moved the ball down the field. The Nittany Lions' Mackenzie Cyr recorded the game-winning goal in the final 36 seconds of play.

Palace recorded a new career-high with four goals and extended her scoring streak to three games. Maiden finished with two points, including her 100th career goal at Drexel. She currently ranks ninth on Drexel's all-time leaderboard with 101 goals. Joelle Harke and Amanda Norcini also put points on the board for the Dragons. Kopenhaver tied her career-best with seven draw control wins and leads the team with 33.

Senior midfielder Kelli Joran caused two Penn State turnovers. Sophomore goalkeeper Teresha Bradley set a new career-high with 11 saves against the Nittany Lions. Bradley has totaled 50 stops on the season. Together, the Dragons held the Nittany Lions to their lowest score of the season.

The Dragons will conclude their four-game home stretch on Saturday, March 30 at 4:30 p.m. against UC Davis.