SCRANTON, PA – The University of Scranton women's lacrosse team took down the MIT Engineers, 12-10, in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Weiss Field in Scranton.

The Basics

• Final Score: Scranton – 12, MIT – 10
• Records: Scranton (15-5), MIT (13-8)
• Scranton has now advanced to the Second Round of the tournament for the second straight season, and the win was the first NCAA Tournament victory at home in program history.

How it Happened

• MIT jumped out in front early when Ashley Thomas found Gwen Flusche who buried the shot from right in front of the crease to give MIT a 1-0 lead at the 10:23 mark of the first quarter.
• Scranton got even with 7:39 left in the first period when graduate student Erin Reich intercepted a pass intended for MIT's goalkeeper Pauline Vien and scored to tie the game at 1-1.
• Just 30 seconds later, senior Molly McCarren grabbed a feed from sophomore Eileen Hewitt and found the back of the net to give Scranton its first lead of the game.
• Senior Grace Lane got on the board with her first goal of the game with 4:50 left in the first quarter as she drove to the goal and made the shot, extending the lead to 3-1.
• The Royals continued their hot start in the second quarter as Hewitt, right after the Royals won the opening draw control of the period, took the ball all the way from midfield to the crease unguarded and scored to make it 4-1 Scranton.
• With 10:54 to go in the second period, Hewitt connected with a cutting Jillian Lopez who buried the shot on the run to make it 5-1 Royals.
• Senior Catherine McGlynn became the sixth different goal scorer of the half for the Royals when she took a feed from Hewitt and scored, making the score 6-1 Scranton with 7:19 left in the half.
• Hewitt recorded her fourth assist of the game when she hit Reich in stride in transition in time for Reich to win a one-on-one with Vien in goal to extend Scranton's advantage to six goals at 7-1 with 5:57 left in the second quarter.
• Gwen Flusche ended the Royals' streak of seven consecutive goals with her second goal of the game with 4:22 left in the half to reduce the Engineer's deficit to five.
• Scranton found its answer immediately, as graduate student Devyn Tanajewski scored her first goal of the contest 55 seconds later to make it an 8-2 game.
• The Engineers scored their third goal of the game with just 47 seconds left in the half to cut the Scranton lead to 8-3, and they made a push for another with just one second left on the clock, but junior goalkeeper Eva Guerino made the save to send the game to halftime with Scranton ahead by five.
• Scranton opened the scoring in the second half just 1:25 into the third quarter, capitalizing on an aggressive play from Vien in goal for MIT. After Vien made a save on a shot by Lane, she attempted to move the ball up the field herself but was stripped from behind by Lopez who quickly passed to Hewitt who scored on an empty net to make the score 9-3 Royals.
• MIT responded with four goals in a span of 3:58 to pull within just two goals with 7:20 to play in the third period.
• With 5:20 left to go in the third quarter, Lane took a feed from Hewitt, drove to goal through the MIT defense and scored to end the Engineer's run of four straight goals and extend the Scranton lead back to three goals at 10-7.
• Annica Lam scored a player-up goal at the 2:42 mark to get the Engineers back within two, but Lane scored her third of the afternoon with just 47 seconds left in the period to extend the lead back to three goals at 11-8.
• MIT scored its ninth goal of the game at the 12:05 mark in the fourth quarter and then got within one with another goal with 9:43 left in the game, cutting Scranton's lead to 11-10.
• With 7:20 to go in the game, Hewitt found Reich down below the goal line who then juked out a defender and fired a shot into the back of the net to put the Royals back up by two goals at 12-10.
• MIT had a chance to get back within one goal at the 6:03 mark when Jillian Butler earned a free-position attempt, but before she could get the shot off, Hewitt knocked the ball out of her stick, keeping the Engineers off the board. 
• The Royals held the Engineers to just one shot in the final six minutes, and they iced the clock on the final possession of the game as Scranton earned the 12-10 victory.

Top Performers

• Hewitt led the game with a career-high eight points on a career-best six assists and two goals.
• Lopez tallied a game-high eight draw controls with three caused turnovers, one goal and one assist as well.
• Lane and Reich each had three goals apiece.

Inside the Box Score

• Scranton outshot MIT 39 to 22.
• The Royals won 14 draw controls while the Engineers won 11.
• Scranton tallied 16 caused turnovers and MIT had seven.

Up Next

• The women's lacrosse team is back in action tomorrow as it will take on No. 2 Tufts University in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament, with action set to begin at 1:00 PM at Weiss Field in Scranton.