PATCHOGUE, N.Y. (April 19, 2015) – Freshman attacker Maddie Spiess picked the perfect time to finish off her hat trick on Sunday at St. Joseph's (L.I.) College as her third mark of the contest gave the Drew University women's lacrosse team a late 13-12 lead, which held as the final score after a wild back-and-forth non-conference battle.
 
Spiess' eventual game-winner came with 6:59 remaining in the game and on a woman-up opportunity. It also came just 10 seconds after senior attacker Nikki Kleiman erased a 12-11 deficit to knot the game at 12-all heading down the stretch. Sophomore goalkeeper Gianna Minogue and the Drew (9-4) defense shut the door over the remaining seven minutes with Minogue making two of her nine saves to hold the slim lead.
 
Senior midfielder Krysta Cento netted four goals and added an assist to creep closer to joining the 300 career point club with 289 career points. Cento also added a game-high six draw controls, while Kleiman split her Sunday duties between scoring and dishing with three goals and three assists.

"It was a very physical game and with all the back-and-forth scoring, it really came down to game management," said head coach Julia Steier. "We stressed following the game plan and making each opportunity count. The team did a tremendous job playing together and taking care of the ball."
 
St. Joseph's (10-4) traded goals with Spiess to open the game until a 2-2 tie at the 17:14 mark. From that point, two straight goals from the Eagles gave them their largest lead of the game at 4-2. The Rangers quickly responded with three straight tallies, two from Cento and another from sophomore attacker Morgan Mason to give Drew a 5-4 lead.
 
St. Joe's closed out the half on a 3-1 run – with Drew's goal coming via sophomore Theresa Shafron off a Cento pass – to head to the locker room with a slim 7-6 advantage.
 
The second half was as back and forth as it gets. Kleiman started the see-saw battle 1:30 into the final half, but for the first five Ranger goals of the second half, the Eagles had an immediate answer. Goals by Cento (2), sophomore Kelly Dwyer and Kleiman (2) were all followed up with St. Joe's markers and the score was 12-11 in the home team's favor with 8:34 to play.
 
The Drew defense took over preventing further St. Joe's offense, as Kleiman and Spiess took care of the clutch goal scoring late in the game to clinch the non-conference victory on the road.

"The defense forced some low angle shots and Gianna made some critical saves toward the end of the game, and the offense did their job by taking care of the ball," Steier said. "It was an all-around solid team outing against a very good team."
 
Both sides were successful on the clear on Sunday, with Drew converting 18-of-20 chances and St. Joseph's posting a perfect 20-of-20 mark. The Eagles held the edge in draw controls 16-11, and Drew held a slight advantage in ground balls, 12-11.
 
The Rangers play one more non-conference game at Rowan University on Thursday, April 23 at 6:00 p.m. before the most important game of the season on Saturday, April 25, when Drew will head to Goucher College to decide who will make the 2015 Landmark Conference Championship Tournament.