BUFFALO, N.Y.—The Allegheny College women's lacrosse team held off a late comeback as they defeated D'Youville College 12-11 on the road Wednesday (April 3).
 
D'Youville scored the opening goal of the game, but a 3-0 Gator run put them in front.  After a second Spartan goal, the Gators once again responded with three straight goals to push the lead to 6-3.  Allegheny ended the half on a 3-1 run to take a 9-3 lead into the halftime locker room.
 
The teams traded the first four goals of the second half as the Gators kept their lead.  Brenna Lawler (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) scored the final Gator goal to make it 12-5 before D'Youville scored five straight late in the game to drop the Allegheny lead to one, but the Gators held on for the non-conference win.
 
Lawler led the way for the Gators with four goals.  In addition to her scoring output, Lawler added three groundballs and caused two turnovers. 
 
Evi Malagise (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) and Mary Allen (Victor, N.Y./Victor) had two goals and an assist apiece.  Allen added eight draw controls, three groundballs and three caused turnovers. Alex Zielinski (Erie, Pa./McDowell) had a goal and an assist while Sarah Basden (Malibu, Calif./Thousand Oaks) assisted on two goals.  Taylor Vigneri (Canandaigua, N.Y./Canandaigua Academy), Alex Grob (Allison Park, Pa./Hampton) and Devin Gaffney (Rochester, N.Y./Our Lady of Mercy) also found the back of the net. 
 
Grob led Allegheny with six groundballs while Gretchen Barbera (Yarmouth, Maine/Yarmouth) and Natalie Sciulli (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) had five apiece.  Zielinski and Gabriella Eberle (Clarence, N.Y./Clarence) joined Allen with a team-high three caused turnovers.
 
Steph Shakespeare (Pittsburgh, Pa./Peters Township) collected the win in net for the Gators, making 12 saves.
 
With the win, Allegheny improves to 3-6 on the season while D'Youville falls to 3-6. 
 
The Gators return to action Saturday (April 3) for a North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) game against DePauw University.