Drew women's lacrosse played well early and late to survived a Tiger rally in the middle as it defeated Colorado College, 16-8, at Ranger Stadium. Drew led 10-2 at the break before finishing with the contest's final four tallies to resist a 6-2 CC run. Stacie Brown led Drew with five goals and an assist. The Rangers (7-6) climbed over the .500 mark with the win over the well regarded Tigers (10-3).

Drew jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to Jeffries and Sloane Coles. Jeffries opened the scoring six minutes in with a nice roll on the crease from the left side. Coles added the second on a free position attempt that she put away her shot low, stick side, with seven minutes played.

The Tigers tied it up at 2-2 six minutes later. Ali Zarlengo scored from eight meters on a shot that barely made it over the line. Not twenty seconds later Maggie Defanti's goal tied it up.

The Rangers played their best stretch of lacrosse in the game over the remaining 15 minutes. Brook Connell gave Drew the lead with 13 minutes left on a well worked play. Stacie Brown patiently possessed at the top of the eight before finding the cutting Connell just off the crease. A nice catch and shoot from Connell made it 3-2.

After the Rangers hit the post for the third time in four minutes, Aileen Musynske's crease roll and finish made it 4-2. Lyndsay Rossi blew past her defender for her second of the game with just over 19 minutes played to make it 5-2.

The Rangers forced CC's keeper Jess Van Doren into two more saves before Rebecca Schild's close range rip made it 6-2. The roll continued just two minutes later as Sloane Coles scored on a great solo effort. The Rangers had forced a turnover back in the defensive end through Jeffries and Allison McCord. Coles helped clear the ball and just kept going, finishing low to the far post from the right side.

Brown and Jeffries scored within 90 seconds of Coles' tally to make it 9-2 and finish off the seven goals in eight minutes run. The Rangers finished off the half well, allowing just one shot by the Tigers of the final five minutes. Brown made it 10-2 with an outstanding goal. The sophomore started her attack from 15 meters out, spinning to lose one defender and then ducking under a check before firing high past the Tiger keeper.

The Rangers are a very young team with no seniors and just five juniors on the roster which may help explain why they have a tendency to take 20 minute naps in the middle of the game. This time, the Tigers went on a 6-2 run while Drew dozed off. Four different Tigers scored with Gioia Garden and Ginny Rider tally twice in the run.

Only goals from Rossi and Connell helped offset the run. The momentum was clearly in the Tigers' favor with five minutes remaining in the game and a completed comeback seemed possible, but Rossi scored a crucial goal to secure the win. The rookie scored a terrific goal. Like Brown's earlier tally, her run began far from goal, but a pair of dodges freed her to finish well for the 13-8 lead.

The Rangers settled down after that goal and killed off the final minutes of play with poise. Brown scored on a free position attempt and then capitalized on the Tigers' aggressive defense to score another pair before the end of the game.

The win gives Drew its fourth straight victory and gives further evidence to the Rangers' impressive form of late. The Tigers had entered the game at 10-2 and considered one of the top teams in the west, ranked #4 in the West in the latest NCAA Regional Rankings.

The Rangers defense has been outstanding lately. In the four game winning streak, Drew has allowed just a shade over seven goals per game. Today, the Rangers were particularly effective in shutting down the Tigers' leading scorer, Kristin Rider. Rider had been averaging nearly three goals and four points per game heading into the contest, but recorded just a pair of assists today.

2009-04-16