Women's Lacrosse Comeback Falls Short at Villanova, 9-5

Wednesday, March 5

Villanova, Pa.

4:00 p.m.

Drexel University

Villanova

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Women's Lacrosse Comeback Falls Short at Villanova, 9-5

3/5/2014 6:07:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

BOX SCORE

PHILADELPHIA - The Drexel women's lacrosse team got two goals from senior Kelly Palace, but could not overcome an early 5-0 deficit as the Dragons fell at Villanova, 9-5. The Dragons were held scoreless for the first 29:58 of play before getting on the board with two seconds remaining in the first half.

The Dragons (2-3) won just one of the first six draw controls of the game, giving the Wildcats extra opportunities to build up their 5-0 lead. Just before halftime, though, senior Amanda Norcini drew a foul and earned a free position shot, converting to put Drexel on the board.

Villanova extended its lead to 7-1 over the first eight minutes of the second half before the Drexel comeback effort got going in earnest. Palace notched her first goal of the day with 18:45 remaining, taking a feed from Joelle Hartke and beating Villanova goalie Jaclyn Fraum.

After the Wildcats scored one more to make it 8-2, Drexel tallied a flurry of goals to make Villanova uncomfortable in the closing minutes of play. It began when draw control specialist Milan White got a free position look and made it count with 7:52 to play. Just 23 seconds later, Caroline Thiele scored her third goal of the season, unassisted, to make it an 8-4 game.

Villanova held Drexel at bay for the next three minutes, but Palace notched another free position goal with 3:15 remaining, pulling the Dragons within three. The goal was the team-leading tenth of the season for Palace, leaving her tied with Andi Raymond of Towson for second in the Colonial Athletic Association.

That would be as much as Drexel could muster, as the Wildcats added a late goal to cap off the victory. Drexel will now return home for the first time in March as they host UMBC on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.