NCAA Rewind: Cuocco, Drexel Put Together Steady 2024 Season

Before USA Lacrosse Magazine looks ahead to what’s to come in 2025 — look out for our NCAA Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings later this summer — our team of staff and contributors decided it was worth taking a last look at the 2024 college lacrosse season.

To do that, we’re taking a journey through 30 of the top teams in men’s and women’s lacrosse to see what went right, what went wrong and how we should feel about the season.

DREXEL

USA Lacrosse preseason/final ranking: unranked/also considered
2024 record: 13-6 (7-1 CAA)

What went right: Drexel smothered most teams, allowing double-digit goals just seven times and ranking 13th nationally in scoring defense (9.05 goals per game). Having arguably the top goalie in the country helped, as Jenika Cuocco led the nation with 224 saves and a 56.9-percent save rate. (Cuocco is in the NCAA transfer portal this summer, and it remains to be seen where she’ll end up for the 2025 season.)

Drexel also did good work on the offensive end, even if the Dragons rarely wowed on that side of the field. Corinne Bednarik nearly produced a 100-point season (58 goals, 41 assists), and Allison Drake quietly deposited 40 goals while shooting 54.8 percent for the No. 2 team in the CAA.

What went wrong: Wins over Penn State and Navy got Drexel into the NCAA tournament, but the Dragons left other significant wins on the table. All six of their losses came against NCAA tournament teams — Penn, Maryland, Fairfield, Princeton and Stony Brook (twice).

The Dragons nearly beat Stony Brook that second time, but a second-half resurgence by the Seawolves led to a 9-6 CAA championship game win.

Season highlight: Drexel was a steady, if unexciting, program in 2024. Well-coached and talented, sure, but there wasn’t much flash to look back on. Perhaps the season’s highlight is cumulative, with Cuocco earning a considerable amount of respect. The redshirt-sophomore built off her impressive 2023 season and set herself up for more attention moving forward.

Verdict: Drexel wasn’t even considered for the USA Lacrosse Division I Women’s Preseason Top 20, but it also didn’t take long to see that the Dragons were essentially on par with a 2023 season during which they appeared in the NCAA tournament. 

There’s room to grow in Philadelphia, and Cuocco’s upcoming transfer decision is one to watch, but Drexel won’t fly under the radar entering 2025.