MADISON, N.J. – Graduate student Maggie Speckhart and senior Kat Kugler each scored a first-half goal and the Drew University women's soccer team held on to beat Catholic University 2-1 in the first round of the Landmark Conference Championships Tuesday evening in Ranger Stadium.
 
The fourth-seeded Rangers (9-6-4) advance to the tournament semifinals, where they will visit top-seeded and 14th-ranked University of Scranton Thursday at 7 p.m.
 
Drew has now won its opening-round match in the Landmark Conference Championships for the third year in a row.
 
Kugler finished with one goal and one assist for the Rangers while sophomore Sarah Crowley made a pair of saves for the Rangers.
 
Ava Rieger stopped four shots for the Cardinals (8-7-4).
 
The Rangers seized the lead in the 22nd minute, when senior Alexa Krause sent in a cross from the left side. Kugler headed the ball over the keeper, and Speckhart drilled in a shot off one bounce and into the net. It was the first goal as a Ranger for Speckhart, who competed at William Smith College for four years.
 
In the 35th, senior Rebecca Racine received a lofted a long free kick into the box, where it bounced over Rieger and off the crossbar. In a scramble in front of the net, Kugler drilled in a shot from point-blank range for her third goal of the season and what held up as the game-winner.
 
The Cardinals were forced to play with one fewer player over the final 21 minutes after Alex Berish was whistled for a red card on a Ranger breakaway. However, the Cardinals were still able to cut the deficit in half when Ava Gregorio scored in the 81st minute. But the Rangers buckled down defensively the rest of the way, preventing Catholic from taking another shot over the final nine minutes.
 
In the other first-round match, No. 6-seeded Moravian defeated No. 3-seed Elizabethtown 1-0 in double overtime on Tuesday. Moravian moves on to face No. 2 seed Lycoming in the other semifinal.