Women's Lacrosse Defeats Columbia, 11-9

Sunday, February 22

Vidas Field

1:00 p.m.

Drexel University

1-1

Columbia

0-1

COLUMBIA

DREXEL

Photo by: Ryan Samson

2/22/2015 3:25:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - The Drexel women's lacrosse team defeated Columbia, 11-9 in the Dragons' home opener at Vidas Field on Sunday afternoon. Devin Nihill recorded four goals and an assist for Drexel in the winning effort, while Emily Duffey added two goals and two assists.

Just days after scoring two goals in the season opener at Monmouth, the Dragons offense bounced back nicely on Sunday. Their 11 goals scored marked the Dragons' highest total since a season-opening 12-7 win over George Washington on February 16, 2014. Drexel has now won its last seven home openers.

For Nihill, the goals were the first of her collegiate career. Her fourth and final goal of the day was the eventual game-winner, coming off a feed from Caroline Thiele with 19:27 remaining. Nadia Pelham-Lacey also tallied her first two collegiate goals, coming on her only two shots of the afternoon. Milan White, who scored in Wednesday's season opener, added two more goals on Sunday including a goal with 11:13 remaining that gave Drexel some much-needed breathing room after the Lions had closed the gap to 10-7. Teresha Bradley had five saves in goal for the Dragons.

Drexel spotted Columbia an early 2-0 lead before the Dragons got their offense on track. It started with 23:39 remaining in the first half when Duffey earned a free position shot and converted. It was a good sign for the offense, which had scored on just one of five free position attempts on Wednesday. Sunday's game saw them score on three of eight tries.

Duffey's goal sparked a 3-0 Drexel run over the next 1:02, a fast-paced sequence that saw the Dragons win a pair of draw controls and force a Columbia turnover. Joelle Hartke's man-up goal evened the score, and Nihill's first goal, off a Duffey assist, put Drexel on top.

Columbia would briefly take a 4-3 lead before the Dragons went back ahead for good, scoring five goals in just under 10 minutes to close out the half. Nihill's unassisted second goal at the 13:09 mark started the run, and evened things back up at four apiece. Just 27 seconds later, White finished a free position attempt with a goal, making it 5-4 Drexel. Pelham-Lacey got into the act with her first score at the 9:54 mark, an unassisted goal.

Over the next six minutes, Drexel's defense stepped up to keep the Dragons ahead. Teresha Bradley stopped the only shot that came her way. She also caused a Columbia turnover, as did Jocelyn Quaile. After the Bradley save, the goalkeeper started the ball upfield, where it eventually was fed from Duffey to Nihill, giving the sophomore a hat trick before halftime and putting Drexel up 7-4. At the 3:11 mark, it was Nihill's turn to set up Duffey for the Dragons' fifth-straight goal, sending the Dragons into the locker rooms up 8-4.

After Columbia got the scoring started in the second half, Drexel added two more quick goals to extend their lead to 10-5. Pelham-Lacey and Nihill were the goal-scorers for the Dragons, with Thiele earning the assist on Nihill's eventual game-winner.

Columbia scored four of the game's last five goals, but Drexel got White's second free position goal and forced a pair of Lions turnovers to keep Columbia at bay. Eva Winiarski caused two Columbia turnovers on the day. Eight other players had one caused turnover. Drexel also won nine total draw controls, led by three picked up by Alissa Watts. Quaile and Kelly McDevitt had three ground balls apiece to lead the team.

Drexel's game was its lone home game in Februray, and its only home contest over the season's first seven games. Drexel begins a five-game road swing on Wednesday, February 25 at Princeton at 6:00 p.m. The Dragons will also visit Stony Brook, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and UMBC before their next game at Vidas Field against Villanova on March 14.