Lebanon Valley 13, Widener 10

LVC Starters
Kelley, Eck, Mellendick, Ernst, Maleski, Bannan, Brewer, Little, Jones, O'Neill, Venezia, Franklin (GK)

Widener Starters
Lynch, Bert, Mastronardo, DiGilio, Peters, Colella, Rohrer, Steffney, Coates, Racioppi, Duscha, Hayes (GK)

How It Happened
CHESTER, Pa. – Lebanon Valley held off a late surge from Widener and defeated the Pride 13-10 on Saturday afternoon in MAC Commonwealth women's lacrosse action. The Dutchmen, who have now won four consecutive games, moved to 10-4, 5-1 MACC, while Widener dropped to 5-10, 2-4 MACC.

After the Pride netted the game's first goal at 28:21 of the first half, LVC responded with three consecutive goals, including two from Kirsten Bannan and one from Emily Federowicz, to take a 3-1 advantage midway through the opening half. Widener scored an up-goal at 11:45 to come to within one at 3-2, but back-to-back unassisted scores by Makenzie Kelley put the Dutchmen up 5-2 with 6:24 left in the first. The Pride, however, ended the first half on a 2-0 run, but LVC was still up 5-4 after 30 minutes of action.

Just 1:15 into the second half, Bannan registered the hat trick with a goal from Kelley to make it a 6-4 game, and later, at 22:53 with the Dutchmen up 6-5, Jaclyn Little found the back of the net from Venezia. After Ashley Mastronardo brought Widener to within one, Emma Jones broke through and netted her first of the game and 51st of the season, putting LVC back up by two with 18:21 remaining.

Venezia then scored her 26th of the season just 18 seconds later to give the Dutchmen a three-goal cushion, and after Emma DiGilio brought Widener to within two at 13:15, Venezia scored back-to-back goals at 12:05 and 10:44 to put the Dutchmen up 11-7. Later, with LVC ahead 12-8 with 5:27 to go, the Pride scored two in a row to make it a two-score game, but the Dutchmen were able to hold on a and Kelley scored her 50th of the season with one second left, as LVC went on to win 13-10.

Inside the Numbers
 - Kelley finished with three goals, two assists, two ground balls, and one draw controls. Her final goal today was the 100th of her career. She joins Jones as the Dutchmen's two 50-goal scorers this season.
 - Bannan and Venezia each recorded the hat trick, while Venezia added three assists and five draw controls.
 - Federowicz finished with a pair of goals on four shots.
 - Leah Franklin bolstered her stats and was dominant yet again, making 15 saves in the win.
 - Kristina Maleski picked up three ground balls, while Jen Eck controlled eight draws.
 - Widener held the slight edge in shots (29-27) and shots on goal (25-22).
 - The Dutchmen were 15-for-19 on clears and the Pride went 19-for-20.
 - LVC was dominant in draw controls at 18-6.

Playoff Picture
With the Dutchmen's win today and Albright's loss, LVC now sits in second place in the MAC Commonwealth at 5-1 behind Messiah (7-0). Albright and Arcadia, who the Dutchmen play in their final two games of the regular season, are both at 4-2.

Who's Next?
LVC returns home for its final two regular-season games, beginning with a matchup against Arcadia under the lights of Arnold Field at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

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