MADISON, N.J. (March 21, 2009) – The Stevens Institute of Technology women's lacrosse team continued its impressive start to 2009 with a 19-13 win over Drew University on Saturday afternoon in Madison, N.J. Stevens got big performances from up and down its bench as the win marks the 100th in the history of the program. The Ducks are now 6-0 heading into their conference opener on March 28 at Utica College.
Seven different players scored goals in the win and five had multiple goals as it was the first win over Drew in four tries for the Stevens seniors. Sophomore midfielder Christine Smith led the offensive attack, scoring five times and assisting on two others, and junior attack Alyssa Pigott found net five times and recorded one assist. Smith was also credited with four ground balls and five draw controls.
Sophomore midfielder Pamela Loria continued her solid play, tallying three goals, helping on another, and scooping up two ground balls, while junior Fionuala Quinn and sophomore Karen Federico each scored twice.
Stevens jumped out to a 4-1 lead just 2:32 into the game on goals from Federico, Pigott and Smith (2). The two teams traded tallies over the next 13-plus minutes as the Ducks were able to take a 7-3 advantage at the 14:15 mark after sophomore Leah Wasserman and Smith hooked up for a pretty goal.
Drew (2-3) responded by scoring three-straight times to cut the score to 7-6 with 7:35 to go in the first. Two of the three goals came from sophomore midfielder Stacie Brown (Upper Marlborough, Md.).
Stevens went to the locker room with an 8-6 lead after Smith scored her fourth goal of the first half with 1:49 to go, and the Ducks opened the second 30 minutes on a roll, scoring four times in a row to build a solid six-goal lead. Loria put the first goal away thanks to a feed from Smith, and Federico, Pigott, and sophomore defender Kate Cox followed with unassisted tallies to open the 12-6 advantage.
Drew made several solid runs, once cutting the lead to 13-11, but Quinn tallied twice and Smith once in a span of just 49 seconds to break open the tight contest.
In addition to her goal, Cox had three ground balls and three caused turnovers, and senior Cassidy Callahan controlled a game-high six draws.
The Ducks outshot Drew 43-31, and senior Grace Sack got the win in net for Stevens. She was credited with 13 saves. The Ducks only committed 13 turnovers, compared to 21 for the Rangers, and Stevens won 20 of the 34 draw controls.
Drew was led by four scores and four draw controls from Brown as Cara Jeffries (Central Square, N.Y.) and Brook Connell (Little Silver, N.J.) each tallied three times. Jeffries also recorded two assists and three draw controls.
