WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ- Drexel University (3-1) scored four goals in a 10 minute span of the second half to overcome Monmouth University (1-4) 11-9 on Wednesday afternoon.

Monmouth took a 7-6 lead with 18:11 left on Olivia Higson's (Cheadle Hulme, England/Withington Girls' School) second goal of the game with 18:11 to play but 19 seconds later Drexel's Lisa Rogers tied the game up. Drecel took an 8-7 lead but Higson knotted things up with 8:55 remaining after taking a feed from Nicole Ceraso (Massapequa, NY/Plainedge) and beating Dragon goaltender Carlee Ries. Rogers regained the lead for Drexel 17 second later and Alex Beilman tallied her first goal of the game to give DU a two goal cushion.

Trailing 10-8 with time winding down senior Alexandra Stambaugh (Harrisburg, PA/Central Dauphin East) found the back of the net to cut the lead to one but Drexel would be the last team to score, giving the Dragons a 11-9 win. The two teams battled defensively in the first half, locked up at 4-4 going into halftime. Monmouth junior Caroline Corbliss (Marriotts Ridge, MD/Marriottsville) struck first to give MU a 1-0 lead just four minutes in. Drexel's Devin Nihill scored back to back goals over a 2:10 period to give Drexel its first lead of the game, 2-1.

NOTES AND QUOTES

"We had a very good defensive scheme coming into it and I think the biggest improvement in this game was we limiting their shots so Riley was able to make the saves. I thought we were able to adapt a lot during the game. It was the most consistent 60 minutes we played so far."
Monmouth Head Coach Eileen Ghent

"A lot of our defensive success came down to Riley [Brager] and she had a great day, she really stepped up." Ghent on the play of sophomore goaltender Riley Brager

·      Brager had 10 saves in the game, one shy of her career-high (Rutgers '17)

·      The nine goals scored was the first time all season that Monmouth was held to single digit scoring

·      Monmouth's nine goals also matched the most Drexel's defense has allowed all year (Duke)

·      The Hawks came into the game ranking fourth in the NCAA in fewest turnovers committed, averaging 13.0 per contest

·      The two teams are now tied 3-3 all-time, with Drexel winning the last two contests

NUMBERS CRUNCH

·      Monmouth won 12 out of the 22 draw controls

·      The Hawks committed 17 turnovers, compared to 12 for the Dragons

·      Higson, the team's leading goal scorer, registered her fourth game this season with at least three goals

·      Junior Kate Ryan had a pair of goals but also grabbed three draw controls, two ground balls and forced two turnovers in the contest

·      Drexel's Nadia Pelham-Lacey had six points on three goals and three assists

UP NEXT

Monmouth will head to Philadelphia to face Big East opponent Villanova on Saturday.