UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio (March 9) - The Saint Vincent women's lacrosse team suffered an 18-13 setback on the road to John Carroll University at Don Shula Stadium.

Things started well for Saint Vincent as sophomore Maggie Nelson opened the scoring with an unassisted goal less than a minute into the contest. After two JCU goals, Helena Shoplik and Katie Stallings helped SVC respond to regain the lead at 3-2 with 21:45 to play in the first half.

The host Blue Streaks would tally another score to tie the contest at 3-3. However, Shoplik put SVC back in front off an assist from Sarah Wallerstedt. A goal by junior Hannah Carroll put SVC in front by a 5-3 margin with 17:33 remaining in the opening half.

After John Carroll responded back with two goals to tie things up at 5-5, Wallerstedt scored an unassisted goal to put SVC back in front momentarily. Two straight goals helped the Blue Streaks regain the lead at 7-6 with 8:37 to play in the half. Senior Jess Heuler tied things up with her first goal of the season, making it 7-7 with 6:39 to play in the half.

That is when JCU made a run to capture the momentum heading into the halftime break. The Blue Streaks scored four of the final five goals of the half to gain an 11-8 halftime advantage. That momentum carried over in the second half, as JCU scored three of the first four goals, strengthening the lead to 14-9 with 24:57 to play.

SVC answered back with two of the next three scores, bringing the score to 15-11 at the 17:24 mark. Nelson tallied the first score before freshman Naomi Schwaiger scored off a pass from Carroll. The score by Schwaiger was the first for the Greater Latrobe graduate.

John Carroll stretched the lead out to 18-11 with 13:03 to play before Wallerstedt and Nelson scored to cut the deficit to five (18-13) with 9:48 to play. However, neither team would score again as JCU earned victory.

Individually, Nelson led the way with four goals and an assist. Shoplik tallied three goals, while Carroll added a goal and three assists. Wallerstedt added two goals, an assist, six ground balls and six draw controls.

JCU outshot SVC by a 34-24 margin in the contest. SVC won the battle of draw controls by a 19-14 margin but committed 30 turnovers in the loss.

The loss drops SVC to 0-4 in nonconference play, while John Carroll improved to 2-1.

Saint Vincent returns to action with a road trip to Division II West Virginia Wesleyan on Monday, March 14. The contest is the Bearcats fifth straight on the road to start the season. Start time is slated for 4 p.m.