LATROBE, Pa. (Apr. 25)- The Saint Vincent women's lacrosse team defeated Franciscan 13-12 in a back-and-forth game for a big PAC win.
 
Saint Vincent (11-5, 5-3 PAC) used a big third quarter against Franciscan (7-5, 6-2 PAC), outscoring the Barons 6-3 in the quarter and limited Franciscan to just one goal in the fourth quarter to secure the one goal win.
 
Kaylee Bandow led the Bearcats offensively, tallying a game-high seven points, scoring five goals, while assisting on two goals as well. Bandow also scooped up one ground ball, while picking up three draw controls.
 
Bridget Doyle totaled six points, scoring one goal, while dishing out five assists and scooping up three ground balls for SVC. Maggie Edwards scored three goals, including what would be the game-winning goal for Saint Vincent late in the third quarter.
 
Caroline Mullineaux, Hannah-Marie Starner, Rachel Thatcher, and Carolina Walters all scored goals in the win as well. Bailey Nicely was strong in net throughout the entirety of the game for SVC. Nicely picked up the win, playing all 60-minutes, making nine saves for the Bearcats, including her 100^th career save. She also picked up a team-high five ground balls.
 
Thatcher led the way for the Bearcats defensively, causing a game-high four turnover and Starner added a game-high seven draw controls for SVC.
 
It was a high-scoring first quarter as the teams combined for eight goals, with SVC outscoring Franciscan 5-3. Franciscan scored the first two goals of the game to take a 2-0 lead but Saint Vincent responded by scoring the next four goals.
 
Bandow scored three with two coming on assists from Doyle and Walters scored one also on an assist from Doyle, giving the Bearcats a 4-2 lead. Franciscan answered with a goal, but Doyle answered back with a goal on an assist from Bandow with two seconds remaining in the quarter to give SVC a 5-3 lead heading into the second quarter.
 
In the second quarter, the Barons stormed back. Franciscan outscored Saint Vincent 5-2 in the quarter. Thatcher and Edwards were the two goal scorers for SVC in the quarter but Franciscan held a slight 8-7 lead at the half.
 
It was all Bearcats in the third quarter. Saint Vincent scored the first three goals of the quarter. Bandow scored first, Starner followed that up with a goal on an assist form Bandow, and Mullineaux then scored to give SVC a 10-8 lead.
 
The Barons answered with a goal to cut the lead to 10-9 but Saint Vincent responded as Edwards pushed the lead back up to two at 11-9. Franciscan came right back with two goals to tie it up at 11-11 but Edwards then scored again on another assist from Doyle. Edwards' goal turned out to be the game-winner with 1:44 remaining in the third quarter.
 
Bandow added another goal for Saint Vincent with 1:33 remaining in the third quarter to add some insurance, as SVC held a 13-11 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
 
In the fourth quarter Franciscan scored less than 40-seconds into the quarter to cut the lead to 13-12 but both defenses held strong the rest of the game as that turned out to be the final score. After a Saint Vincent turnover with less than a minute left the Barons came down to attempt to score but Nicely saved what would have been the game-tying goal to secure the win for the Bearcats.
 
The win for the Bearcats was big in the PAC standings as the Bearcats close out their regular season slate with a road matchup at Chatham on Saturday, April 29. The match is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. in Pittsburgh.