The Elon University women’s lacrosse team lost 10-7 to the Drexel Dragons Sunday. The loss marks the team’s fifth in Colonial Athletic Association play this season and effectively eliminates the Phoenix from advancing into the CAA Tournament.
“They did a very good job at detaining our cutters,” said head coach Josh Hexter. “We like to try to send people through. We still had opportunities. We just weren’t mentally ready for today.”
The Phoenix struck first when sophomore attacker Sloane Kessler scored in the opening minute of the game. But Drexel answered with a 3-0 run, including two goals by redshirt freshman attacker Nadia Pelham-Lacey. Elon scored twice more in the opening half but could generate a large enough comeback. Drexel went on another 3-0 run to lead 6-3 by intermission.
The Phoenix started strong after halftime.
Freshman attacker Stephanie Asher scored two quick goals in the first two minutes of the half to pull Elon within one. Drexel managed to stay ahead of Elon for the rest of the game, pulling away in the final minutes to win the game.
“We were held a lot in the middle, so we were trying to fight through that,” sophomore attacker Anna Vitton said. “Mentally, we had to be more tough to fight through those people in the middle.”
Sophomore goalie Rachel Ramirez made eight saves throughout the game but had a tough time slowing down the Drexel offense. The game was highly physical, with Elon committing 28 fouls and Drexel committing 21.
The Dragons had 13 turnovers on the day compared to the Phoenix's 10. Elon narrowly outshot Drexel, 23-19, but the Dragons had 18 attempts on goal compared to the Phoenix’s 16.
The loss puts the Phoenix at 8-8 overall for the season with a 1-5 record in CAA play. Drexel moves to 4-11 on the season with a 1-4 record in the CAA.