ST. DAVIDS, Pa.- The visiting Neumann Knights scored three goals in a 32-second span to tie the game at 10-10 early in the second half, but Eastern University Women's Lacrosse recovered and held off the Knights for a 16-14 non-league win. Caleigh Falco had three goals and four assists to lead the way for the the Eagles (3-3).

Falco's four assists are the most by an Eastern players since Grace Griffith had four against King's in April of 2011. Eastern players collected assists on eight of their 12 goals scored in the run of play. The Eagles also collected four free position goals.

The Knights jumped to a 1-0 lead in the first 90 seconds of the game when Jordan Hopkins converted a free position shot. Sara Blaylock answered with a clever low-to-low finish from in close. The junior attack would end the day with four goals and four draw controls. Neumann answered with another strike from Hopkins. This would prove to be the final lead of the game for the Knights (2-2).

Falco found a cutting Shannon Wilcox to tie the game at 2-2, and twenty three seconds later Anna Charlebois drove the cage and ripped the nets for the first of three on the day. Neumann tied the game on another free position shot before the Eagles buried three straight to go up 6-3. Ariana Borreeggine tucked home her second of the year on a quick-stick finish in close of a Falco pass. Blaylock then put away two shots in the next two minutes. Wilcox set up the first and Falco picked up her third assist of the day on the second. 

The two teams traded goals until Blaylock put the Eagles up 9-5 with 1:50 to play in the first half. The big lead, however, would not last. The Knights picked up a free position goal with 45.6 on the clock and then closed the gap to 9-7 with a goal in the final 20 seconds. Blaylock picked up an important draw control to eliminate any chance of a final Neumann goal.

The Eagles lost the draw control battle 10-7 but still managed to fire 10 more shots than their guests. The 22-12 shot advantage was negated in part by some excellent goalkeeping from Neumann's Christina Hughes. The sophomore made nine of her 16 stops in the opening period. Megan McReynolds stopped four for the Eagles.

Angalena Malavenda found Jenn McKelvie on the doorstep and the Eagles seemed to have momentum with a 10-7 lead early in the half.  

The Knights, however, had other plans. Hopkins scored on a drive with 26:02 to play and Rebecca Dolenti scored 13 seconds later to force an Eastern timeout. Up 10-9, the Eastern staff made a change and put Cortney Andes in goal. In the short run, the change did not make a difference as the Knights gathered the next draw and scored immediately. Once in the game, Andes played a major role with six saves in the final 25 minutes.

The Knights gathered the next draw, but Blaylock checked back to cause a turnover and put the Eagles on the attack. Blaylock finished with three caused turnovers.

"Blay [Blaylock] has really learned to transition into a midfield role," head coach Camrin Azzarano said after the game. "She is getting to the point where working back in the defensive end is actually helping her attacking. That really helps us."

The Knights won the ball back on another Hughes save, but Jacquelyn Janda jarred another ball loose to win a possession that gave the Eagles the lead for good. Janda and Borreggine each caused four turnovers. Borreggine also added four draw controls and five ground balls.

With the ball back, the Eagles cleared the zone quickly and Wilcox put the Eagles up with her second of the day. Borreggine gathered the next draw control and the Eagles held the ball in the Neumann zone until Falco found Charlebois for a two goal edge.

The two teams traded goals until the Eagles pushed the advantage to 16-13 on consecutive goals from McKelvie and Charlebois. The Eastern defense held the Knights to just a single goal over the final five minutes to emerge with the win.

"This was a total team win," Azzarano said after the game, "What we worked on in practice the last two days, the team put into place. We took care of the ball, we were much better on critical draw controls, and I thought our defense did very well in understanding when to push out and when to take charges. It was great to see Cortney step in and play well."

The Eagles play at Haverford College on Wednesday.

Box Score

Eastern University Women's Lacrosse vs. Neumann University from Eastern University Athletics on Vimeo.