ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – Eastern Women's Lacrosse jumped to an early lead and hung out as the Eagles fought off the snow and a comeback by Immaculata to notch a 15-12 victory. Julie Haggan was outstanding for the Eagles as she netted a season-high six goals to help Eastern earn the win.

"The girls wanted to win, and they worked hard at the beginning to establish a solid lead," said Head Coach Kim Campbell. "They worked hard to shut out Immaculata at the beginning of the game as a whole defensive unit. The weather was certainly challenging, but the girls stayed focused and unified and were able to convert some critical possessions late in the game." 

Haggan got the Eagles (2-9) rolling scoring five goals int he first half including three of the Eastern's first five. With just over 22 minuted left to go in the opening half Haggan got the Eagles scoreboard and then netted another one under a minute later to extend the lead to 2-0. Haggan the assisted Anna Charlebois who stretched the lead to 3-0 less than 45 seconds later before tacking on another of her own to make it 4-0. Alexandria Vincent scored two minutes later to give Eastern a 5-0 lead less than halfway through the first half. It was Eastern's largest lead of the season and most goals scored in a row as well. 

After Immaculata (5-7) had cut the deficit to just four, 5-1, Haggan sparked another goal run for the Eagles. Haggan netted two goals less than four minutes apart to help the Eagles take a 9-1 lead in the locker rooms. Stephanie Hogan and Charlebois each netted goals of their own during the four-goal run to build the halftime lead. 

"Julie Haggan set a positive tone for our team and the game early," continued Campbell. "She continuously lifted her teammates up by her actions: be that scoring, assisting or keeping them fired up. The team fed off her hard work." 

The Mighty Macs came out firing on all cylinders int eh second half scoring five of the goals that opened the second half. Hogan gave the Eagles a seven-goal lead with just under 27 minutes left to play, but four straight goals by Immaculata dwindled the lead down to just three with over 16 minutes left to play. 

Two goals by Charlebois stretched the lead to 12-8 with over 10 minutes left to play, but the Mighty Macs netted two of their own to cut the deficit to two with eight and a half minutes left to play. With the game hanging in the balance Eastern, led by Haggan, responded. She capitalized on a free position shot to stretch the lead back to three. Charlebois and Hogan closed out the scoring for the Eagles scoring goals just over a minute apart from each other to build the lead to five, 15-10. 

Overall the combination of Haggan, Charlebois, and Hogan combined for 14 of the Eagles 15 goals. Cortney Andes also was crucial as she stopped 16 total shots her third-highest total of the season and posting her highest save percentage in a single game (.571).

"Andes was great today," stated Campbell. "She had quick reactions and made huge saves that enabled us to keep the lead and win. At the end of the game, Immaculata had a handful of shots on attack and Andes came up big."

"We have to use this game as a stepping stone for what we want to produce both offensively and defensively as a team in our conference games that start next week," concluded Campbell.  

Eastern travels to Wilkes on April 13th to open MAC Freedom play.