Acorn

The women's lacrosse team was a little apprehensive entering their Tuesday afternoon game against Messiah College. At 5-2 on the season, Messiah had a much better start to the year than the 1-3 Rangers.

"We really didn't want to lose our third game in a row," junior captain Laurie Anthony said. "But finally getting to play at home gave us a little boost of confidence."

The Rangers were able to pull it together in their home-opener. In a hard-fought game that included three lead changes and four tie scores, Drew came out ahead with a well-deserved 11-8 victory.

The first half of the game was dead even, with neither team able to gain a consistent advantage. Junior Kaity Ryan opened the scoring in the 9th minute on an unassisted goal.

In the 14th minute, Messiah tied the game, but could not keep the score deadlocked for long.

Just 8 seconds later, sophomore Rachel Hurvitz scored the first of her 5 goals. Messiah then scored 2 straight goals and led 3-2 at halftime.

The second half looked to be equally close until the 38th minute, when sophomore Alexandra Bailly scored the go-ahead goal.

Messiah never tied the game again. The Rangers held on to their lead and jumpstarted their Middle Atlantic Conference schedule with a 1-0 record.

Hurvitz was the most productive offensive player in the game, scoring 5 goals and 1 assist. Her teammates recognized her outstanding play. "[Hurvitz] played great," senior captain Anne Dorrance said. "I wouldn't be surprised if she was voted Conference Player of the Week."

The Rangers other 6 goals came from just 3 players -- Bailly, Ryan and sophomore Courtney Cunningham. Each player scored 2 goals apiece. Senior Anne Luetzow also had 2 assists.

The Drew defense played as a unit, shutting down Messiah's top offensive threats. A wide variety of players picked up ground balls, won draw controls and caused turnovers throughout the game.

Notable was junior goalie Casey O'Brien's play in the net. O'Brien allowed only eight goals while gathering 12 saves. Prior to the game, she ranked first in the conference in saves per game.

Yesterday afternoon, the Rangers traveled to Widener University to face the Pioneers in a conference match-up.

The Rangers were down 7-5 at halftime, however they outscored the Pioneers 8-2 in the second half to secure the win, 13-9.

"We really pulled through in the second half and played through their out of control, aggressive style," Dorrance said.

Cunningham, Bailly, McMullan and Hurvitz all scored 3 goals a piece. Cunningham also contributed 3 assists.

O'Brien had 11 saves for the Rangers in the cage, while junior Laurie Anthony and sophomore Alyssa Bobe caused 3 turnovers each.

Widener was issued 8 yellow cards in the game. "They were very physical and out of control," Dorrance said.

"They relied on athleticism and lacked talent," she said. "They displayed very poor sportsmanship."

The Rangers now improve to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the Freedom Conference.

Drew's next game is tomorrow at 1 p.m. The Rangers take on Lycoming College for their third MAC game.

Lycoming (3-3) is ranked second-to-last in the MAC Conference.

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