HUNTINGDON, Pa. (March 14) - Senior midfielder Maggie Nelson scored the game-winning goal with 27 seconds left in overtime as the Saint Vincent women's lacrosse team earned a 15-14 victory over Juniata College in non-conference play. 

Nelson tied Kaley Burkardt's single-game goal record with 10 scores in the road victory over the Eagles. Burkardt established the single-game goal record in a PAC Tournament semifinal victory over W&J back on April 15, 2014. 

The host Eagles got off to a fast start, scoring the first three goals of the contest to take an early lead over SVC. The Bearcats responded by rattling over six unanswered goals, five of which came from Nelson and the other courtesy of junior Courtney Kloos. 

Juniata would score three of the final four first half goals to cut the SVC advantage to 7-6 at halftime. 

Naomi Schwaiger and Nelson would score back-to-back goals to open the second half, extending the SVC lead to 9-6. The pesky Eagles responded with three straight goals to tie the contest at 9-9 with 23:38 to play in regulation. 

Saint Vincent appeared to take control with four consecutive goals, as Schwaiger started the run with a score before Nelson tallied the two middle goals and Kloos found the back of the net to make it 13-9 Bearcats. However, Juniata refused to go away, answered back with four straight goals over the next 10-plus minutes to tie the game at 13-13 with 3:49 to play. 

The Bearcats regained the lead when Schwaiger made it 14-13 with her third goal of the game to record her first hat trick of the season. However, Juniata quickly tied the game with another score, making it 14-14. Both teams had chances to win the game in regulation but both goalies were up to the challenge and the game went to overtime. 

Nelson would finish off the Eagles in overtime, scoring with 27 seconds left in the extra session to secure Saint Vincent's first win of the season. The veteran from Jefferson, Md. totaled 11 points in the victory. Schwaiger recorded three goals, while Kloos chipped in two scores to aid the Bearcat offense. 

Senior Alex Piampiano put together a fine effort on defense, tallying a game-high seven ground balls and also chipping in three caused turnovers. Sophomore Rachel Belles tacked on five caused turnovers in the win. Junior goalkeeper Maria Franey recorded 14 saves to earn the victory in net. Isabella Medaris recorded 18 saves in goal for the Eagles. 

The final stats reflected a close game, as SVC held a slight advantage over Juniata in shots (38-36) and shots on goal (33-29). Juniata committed five more turnovers than SVC (28-23). The Bearcats recorded one more successful clear than the Eagles (14-13) and had one more groundball as well (18-17). Juniata held a 20-12 edge in draw controls. 

The loss evens the Bearcats record at 1-1 overall in 2018, while Juniata drops to 1-3 overall.

Saint Vincent hosts Muskingum University on Tuesday, March 20. Start time is set for 4 p.m. The contest will serve as the Bearcats' home opener.