Union, N.J. (4/6/16) – The Kean University women's lacrosse team held off a second-half Drew rally on a 8-6 victory on Wednesday night in non-conference action. 

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Kean (9-1) controlled most of the first 30 minutes, pushing out to a 5-1 lead in the first 18 minutes of action.  Four different Cougars netted goals, with rookie Morgan Graham providing back-to-back tallies with 19 and 17 minutes to go respectively.  There was a break in the scoring action and Drew (2-9) found the back of the net with just under six minutes to go in the period to inch closer at 5-2.  Senior Sam Gnapp registered her second goal of the half, this one a free position goal, in the waning seconds before halftime.

Neither team was able to get their offense on track early in the second half with several turnovers by both teams in the first 10 minutes.  The Rangers notched back-to-back goals by Maddie Spiess and Morgan Mason to inch closer at 6-4.  That would be as close as Drew would get however as Kean responded with a free position Brittany Ballack goal two minutes later.  On two more occasions, the Rangers found themselves down by two but the Cougars were able to maintain possession and drain the clock to preserve the win.

Offensively, Jordan Blanda, Graham and Gnapp (pictured left) each tallied two goals for Kean while Juliana Strazulo and Spiess each had a pair for the Rangers.

Defensively, sophomore Nikki Apostolopoulos had 10 saves in the win.