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LATROBE, Pa. (March 24) - The Saint Vincent women's lacrosse team secured a sizable first half lead and coasted to a 17-9 victory over Mount St. Joseph in Ohio River Lacrosse Conference play. 

For the third straight game, senior Maggie Nelson tied the single-game goals mark with 10. Junior Naomi Schwaiger continued her strong play, tallying five goals on five shots to help aid the offensive attack.

The combination of Nelson and Schwaiger helped SVC open up an early 5-2 lead at the 21:04 mark of the first half. After a score by MSJ, the Bearcats used six consecutive goals to take a commanding 11-3 advantage with 11:48 left in the first half. The final goal during the scoring run came from junior Julianne Rosa via a pass from junior Courtney Kloos. 

MSJ would cut the Bearcat lead to 12-5 late in the first half. However, Nelson and Schwaiger both tallied a late goal to give SVC a 14-5 edge at halftime. 

Kloos and Nelson opened the scoring in the second half to push the Bearcat lead into double figures at 16-5 with 20:20 to play. MSJ tallied four of the final five goals to close the scoring. 

Nelson added five draw controls, four ground balls and two assists to fill out her stat sheet. Senior Alex Piampiano tallied six ground balls, two caused turnovers and two draw controls in the midfield, while sophomore Rachel Belles picked up a team-high seven draw controls. Junior goalkeeper Maria Franey made 10 saves over 60 minutes in net. 

Saint Vincent moves to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in league action, while MSJ drops to 0-6 overall and 0-2 in ORLC games. 

The Bearcats host Thomas More College on Sunday, March 25. Start time is slated for 1 p.m.