LATROBE, Pa. (Feb. 26)- The Saint Vincent women's lacrosse team earned a 12-11 win in their home opener against Mount Aloysius on Wednesday night at a rainy UPMC Field.

The win for the Bearcats (1-1) is the first career win for Joe Conner as the Head Coach of Saint Vincent. Carolina Walters scored what would be the game-winning goal for SVC, coming with 10:35 remaining in the fourth quarter as the Bearcats held off a late comeback attempt from Mount Aloysius (0-2).

Walters scored two total goals for the Bearcats, while also picking up a game-high nine draw controls. Gabby Salandro added four points for SVC, scoring three goals while dishing out one assist as well.

Katie Smith totaled three points (2 goals, 1 assist), Bailey Nicely scored three goals, while Valeria Hurtado and Melanie Seefeldt both scored goals in the win for the Bearcats. Smith led the way with four total ground balls on top of her three points, while Briana Mack totaled three ground balls and three caused turnovers. Addy Carbaugh scooped up three ground balls and caused two turnovers as well. Alexandria Votovich added three ground balls in the win for the Bearcats as well.

Cassidy Rega earned the win in net, recording 11 saves for Saint Vincent.

After a scoreless opening eight minutes in the first quarter, Walters scored her first of two goals on the night with a man-up putting Saint Vincent up 1-0 with about seven and a half minutes remaining in the quarter. After a Mounties goal tied it at 1-1, the Bearcats scored the next two goals to go back in the lead at 3-1.

Nicely scored the back-to-back goals for SVC with the second of the two coming on an assist from Smith. The 3-1 score in favor of Saint Vincent would hold going into the second quarter.

The Mounties scored two of the first three goals in the second quarter to cut the Saint Vincent lead to 4-3. Salandro scored the goal for SVC with 10:49 remaining in the half. From that point on, it was all Bearcats, Saint Vincent scored the next three goals in a row and four of the next five to take an 8-4 advantage into the half. Salandro scored two of those four Saint Vincent goals, while Nicely and Seefeldt both found the back of the net as well.

In the third quarter, the Mounties began to chip into the Saint Vincent lead. Mount Aloyisus scored the first two goals of the half to cut the lead to 8-6. Salandro answered with another goal and Smith found the back of the net later in the quarter after a Mounties goal, but Saint Vincent still remained in the lead at 10-7. Both teams added another goal before the quarters end as the score was 11-8 going into the fourth quarter. Smith scored the goal for the Bearcats with a man-up.

Mount Aloysius attempted a late fourth quarter comeback as they outscored SVC 3-1 in the final 15 minutes. Walters goal that put the Bearcats up 12-10 with 10:35 remaining was the game winner for SVC as both defenses stepped up over the final 10 minutes and the Bearcats held on for the win.

The Mounties out shot SVC 30-23 in the game. Both teams totaled 13 draw controls each, while ground balls were 31-25 in favor of Mount Aloysius.

Saint Vincent returns to action on Saturday, March 1, hosting Mount St. Joesph. The game is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. at UPMC Field on Saturday afternoon.