Drexel Field Hockey Drops 2-1 Contest at Lafayette

EASTON, Pa. - The Drexel field hockey team could not overcome a two-goal deficit in the second half of Friday's visit to Lafayette, as they fell for a second-consecutive game, 2-1 to the Leopards. Drexel (5-2) got a goal from freshman Mary Lynam, but it was not enough to overcome two scores off penalty corners for Lafayette.

Brittany Blass scored both goals for the Leopards. Drexel goalkeeper Jantien Gunter had four saves, and the Drexel defense stopped the Leopards on six of their eight penalty corners, but could not generate enough offense of their own to overcome the two tallies.

Early in the first half, the Dragons were the first to push the tempo offensively, as Lindsay McArdle had two shots in the first 5:45 of play. McArdle's first blast was saved by Lafayette's Jessica Deutsch, while the second was blocked away before it could challenge the goalie. Danielle Grassi also had a shot denied by Deutsch nearly 15 minutes into the game, the only other shot on goal in the period for the Dragons.

Late in the half, Lafayette was awarded a penalty corner with 10 seconds remaining. That resulted in a Jenna Seybert save, but another Drexel foul created a second-straight corner opportunity for the Leopards with the clock having wound all the way down. Deanna Dicroce inserted the ball to Emily Valeo, who set it up for Blass to fire a rocket to the left of Gunter, sending the Leopards into halftime up 1-0. Gunter and the Dragons had stopped five previous Lafayette corners in the half, while Drexel was awarded just one first half penalty corner.

Midway through the second half, the circumstance of Lafayette's first goal played itself out again, as a penalty corner inserted by Dicroce to Valeo to Blass for a laser to the left side of the cage.

Just 3:30 later, Drexel got on the board. Again, it was McArdle getting things going as her wide cross from the far left side of the field darted its way through the scrum in front of the net, finding Lynam out front. Lynam was able to get a stick on the ball, deflecting it back towards the right and beyond the reach of Deutsch.

The Dragons had a couple of opportunities to even things up, as Grassi saw another shot stopped by Deutsch, and a penalty corner in the 69th minute resulted in a wide shot from Chloe Pachuilo. That would be the final push for the Dragons as they could not get the answer they needed.

The Dragons will get back to work on Sunday, looking to end their brief losing skid when they head up Broad Street to Temple. That game will get underway at 1:00 p.m.