Drew University women’s lacrosse fell to the Stevens Institute of Technology on Tuesday, March 22 in a battle between two undefeated opponents which ended in a final score of 17-6.
In the first matchup between the two teams in eight years, Stevens (8-0) led 6-0 at the end of the first quarter and 8-0 with 10:38 left in the opening half. Hailey Simmons (’22) put the Rangers (6-1) on the scoreboard with 9:00 left, but the Ducks answered with three more tallies. Maggie Nealley (’23) and Jenna Draney (’22) scored the last two goals of the first half to make it an 11-3 game at the intermission.
Stevens struck for the first three goals of the second half before the two teams played even the rest of the way. Simmons scored again for Drew while Ella Champigny (’24) and Meliha Emini (’22) added one goal apiece for the Rangers.
Simmons also posted four draw controls for the Rangers while Kendall Hartt (’22) picked up four ground balls. Anna Horne (’23) was credited with eight saves.
The Rangers will continue their season on Saturday, March 26 when they host Moravian University at 1 p.m. in their Landmark Conference opener.
Drew University men’s lacrosse lost in a close matchup against non-conference opponents Lycoming College on Wednesday, March 23. The final score was 17-15.
The Rangers (5-3) trailed by four heading into the fourth quarter, but rallied to cut the deficit to one with 3:19 remaining. GJ Nazziola (’24) won the ensuing faceoff, but Lycoming eventually forced a turnover and scored an insurance goal with 1:28 left.
Craig Wilkie (‘23) scored seven goals against Lycoming College. Wilkie came up just two goals shy of his own school record set earlier this season while also dishing out two assists. He has now scored at least four goals in six of eight games this season and has piled up 38 goals on the year.
Nazziola added a big game on face-offs for the Rangers (5-3), winning 26 of his 32 attempts while picking up 16 ground balls – a mark that ties him for fourth in team history. He also tacked on his first goal of the season.
Brett Spafford (’24) added two goals and five ground balls for the Rangers while Kyle Weeks (’23) also picked up five ground balls. Jeremy Gottlieb (’22) made four saves over the opening 35 minutes before Anthony Tufaro (’22) stopped two shots over the last 25 minutes.
The Rangers never led after Lycoming scored the first goal of the game, but they also never trailed by more than three only once. Wilkie notched a hat trick before the end of the first quarter, when Drew trailed 6-4 at the end of the period. He threw in his fourth tally early in the second quarter, and the Warriors led just 10-8 at the half.
Lycoming led by three early in the third quarter, but the Rangers answered with goals from Wilkie and Trevor Spinelli (’25) to make it 12-11 with 3:15 remaining in the period. However, that’s when the hosts used a 3-0 run over the final 2:27 of the stanza to assume their largest lead of the night (15-11) after three quarters of play.
Drew refused to back down, however, and outscored the Warriors 4-1 to start the fourth quarter. Mike DeMayo (’25) and Wilkie struck for back-to-back tallies over the opening four minutes of the period, and after a Lycoming goal, Luke Bruther (’25) scored with 5:18 showing to make it 16-14.
Wilkie then notched his final goal of the night before Nazziola picked up the ground ball on the ensuing faceoff,but the Rangers were unable to get off a shot before they turned it over and Lycoming scored the game’s final goal.
Drew opens Landmark Conference play on Saturday, March 26, when they visit Moravian College at 1 p.m.
