LATROBE, Pa. (April 9) – The Saint Vincent women's lacrosse team held off a second half charge from visiting Westminster to defeat the Titans 19-15 in a Presidents' Athletic Conference matchup at UPMC Field.
 
The Bearcats (8-6, 2-2 PAC) and Titans (2-5, 0-3 PAC) battled through the elements throughout the late afternoon, playing through rain, snow, hail, wind and, at times, sunshine.
 
Joey Smith led SVC's scoring charge with five goals and five assists, reaching double-figures in points for the second straight game, and fourth time on the season. Bridget Doyle posted six points, on five goals and one helper, while Kaylee Bandow and Hannah-Marie Starner each finished with three goals and one assist; Maggie Edwards two goals and one assist; and Rachel Thatcher one goal and one assist.
 
Bandow, Starner and Caroline Mullineaux shared the SVC team lead with three ground balls apiece, while Mullineaux caused three turnovers and Georgie Volna and Emily Taylor two. Starner also led both sides with a game-high 16 draw controls and Kyra Lipetzky played all 60 minutes in goal and made eight saves to earn the win.
 
Doyle got the Bearcats on the board just 54 seconds into play with the game's first goal, but from there, the Titans took charge for the remainder of the quarter, out-scoring the Bearcats 4-1 over the final 13 minutes to take a 4-2 lead into the second frame.
 
Smith scored her first goal of the day 1:49 into the second quarter, and it awoke the Bearcats in a big way. Over the next seven minutes of game time, the Bearcats scored six unanswered goals, with two from Doyle and one apiece from Edwards, Smith, Thatcher and Starner, to open up a 9-4 lead with just under six minutes left in the quarter. The Titans briefly halted the run on a Magen Polczynski goal with 4:17 left, but SVC would then continue the onslaught, scoring five times in the final two minutes, highlighted by a Taylor goal that beat the buzzer and gave SVC a 14-5 lead at the intermission.
 
The teams traded goals in the opening 90 seconds of the third quarter, with Smith's fourth of the day giving the Bearcats a 15-6 lead, but the Titans would slowly chip away at the deficit and eventually pull to within five, 16-11, with 1:48 left in the quarter. Edwards would score the final goal of the third frame with 1:31 left to give SVC a 17-11 lead with 15 minutes left to play.
 
Westminster scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter to pull to within four, 17-13, but Smith and Doyle scored 15 seconds apart for the Bearcats to increase the lead to 19-13 and essentially put the game out of reach for Westminster. The Titans scored the game's final two goals over the last two minutes of play, but the deficit proved too much and they were unable to complete the comeback.

Stephanie Cimini scored a game-high six goals to lead the Titans, while Polczynski also finished with a 6-point day, on five goals and one assist.
 
The Bearcats finished the afternoon with a 38-32 edge in shots, and a 20-16 advantage in draw controls.
 
Saint Vincent will be back in action on Tuesday, April 19, with a 4 p.m. home date against Bethany College at UPMC Field.