MEADVILLE, Pa. -- The Allegheny women's lacrosse team earned a come from behind 14-7 nonconference win over the Washington & Jefferson Presidents on Thursday in their home opener.
After giving up three goals less than three minutes to begin the game, Devin Gaffney (Rochester, N.Y. / Our Lady of Mercy) began the Gators' string of five answered goals with an unassisted goal, cutting the Presidents' lead to 3-1 with 23:35 left in the half.
Danielle Thompson (Eden, N.Y. / Eden) scored the next two Allegheny goals, tying the game at 3-3 with 7:30 remaining in the first half.
Just over two minutes later, Thompson found Rhiannon King (Amherst, N.H. / Souhegan), giving the Gators their first lead of the night, 4-3, with 5:23 left to play in the opening half. Once Allegheny grabbed the lead, they never trailed for the rest of the game.
In the winding minutes of the opening frame, Brenna Lawler (Randolph, N.J. / Randolph) doubled the Gators' lead off an assist from Gaffney, giving Allegheny a 5-3 advantage heading into the halftime break.
Twenty seconds into the second half, the Presidents scored on a free-position shot, bringing them within one goal. However, a 5-4 deficit was as close as they would get to the lead.
Allegheny answered the free-position goal with another string of five unanswered goals in the span of seven minutes to extend their lead to 10-4 with 20:34 left. Lawler added goals two and three on the night during that stretch. Senna Perelman (Cleveland, Ohio / Cleveland Heights), Grace Baginski (Lakeville, N.Y. / Our Lady of Mercy) and Evi Malagise (Beaver Falls, Pa. / Blackhawk) all chipped in with goals of their own as well.
W&J trimmed the Gator lead to 10-5 after taking advantage of another free position shot with just under 20 minutes remaining in the game.
Thompson answered right back less than a minute later as she extended Allegheny's lead back to six with just over 19 minutes left to play.
Malagise, Lawler and Gaffney combined for three of the game's next five goals to ensure the home-opening win.
Thompson netted her first career hat trick and handed out two assists for a total of five points on the night. Lawler led all goal scorers with four and tallied an assist as she finished with five points as well. Malagise and Gaffney both notched multi-point performances with two goals and an assist each.
Baginski, King and Perelman all chipped in with a goal.
Defensively, Gretchen Barbera (Yarmouth, Maine / Yarmouth) scooped up six ground balls and caused three turnovers. Steph Shakespeare (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Peters Township) and Fiona Barret (Danvers, Mass. / Danvers) combined for six saves as they combined in net to preserve the home win.
The Gators are back in action on Saturday when they host the Buffalo State Bengals. Opening draw control is scheduled for 1 p.m.
