LATROBE, Pa. (April 6) – The Saint Vincent women's lacrosse team used a balanced effort to earn a 20-11 victory over Waynesburg in a Presidents' Athletic Conference matchup at UPMC Field.
 
Seven different players registered at least one goal for SVC (2-6, 1-2 PAC), led by five apiece from Bailey Nicely and Carolina Walters, while the Bearcats outshot the Yellow Jackets (1-9, 0-3 PAC) by a 49-21 margin.
 
Along with her five tallies, Nicely added one assist, for a six-point day. Madison Weber recorded a career-high five points, on four goals and one assist, while Gabby Salandro finished with four points, on two goals and two helpers. Bethany Smith also scored a pair of goals, while Lena Coyne and Gianna Murray each scored once. Coyne also added two assists to finish with three points.
 
Smith also had a big day on defense, recording six caused turnovers and nine ground balls, both game-highs. Walters scooped up six ground balls and led the Bearcats with seven draw controls, while Nicely and Coyne each collected four ground balls.
 
Cassidy Rega went the distance in goal and made seven saves to earn her first collegiate victory.
 
The Yellow Jackets stormed out of the gates, jumping out to a 3-1 lead less than five minutes into play. Nicely and Weber then scored within a 90-second span to tie the game at 3-3, before Coyne gave the Bearcats a 4-3 lead with her goal with 6:16 left in the quarter. Salandro scored with 2:38 left to open up a two-goal lead, and after the Yellow Jackets temporarily cut the gap to one on a goal with 2:19 remaining, Nicely scored with less than 40 seconds left in the quarter to open up a 6-4 SVC lead.
 
After the high-scoring first quarter, neither team scored for the first 6:30 of the second frame, when Waynesburg's Megan Wilson found the net to again make it a one-point game. The Bearcats responded with another big run, with Smith and Murray scoring once, and Weber twice, over the next four minutes to extend the margin to 10-5. A Waynesburg tally with 3:06 left temporarily halted SVC's surge, but the Bearcats would then receive goals from Salandro and Nicely to enter the intermission with a 12-6 advantage.
 
Saint Vincent kept the momentum in the third quarter, outscoring the Yellow Jackets 5-1, with two goals from Walters and one apiece from Nicely, Weber and Smith to make the score 17-7 heading into the final frame.
 
Waynesburg opened the fourth quarter with a flurry, scoring three goals in the opening three minutes to close the deficit to 17-10, but Walters scored three times down the stretch to close out the victory.
 
The Bearcats will now continued their four-game homestand on Tuesday, April 9, hosting Westminster College in a PAC bout at UPMC Field beginning at 4 p.m.