PHILADELPHIA, Pa.-The Saint Joseph's women's lacrosse team was unable to find its stride in the second half, falling to Massachusetts, 10-8, at Finnesey Field on Sunday in Atlantic 10 action. Jenna Martino's three markers weren't enough as SJU's offense sputtered in the second half, yielding just one goal.

The teams were nearly even in an action-packed first half that saw both squads put seven on the board, but it UMass' strong defense in the second half that paced the Minutewomen.

UMass (5-6, 2-0 A-10) out-scored Saint Joseph's (5-6, 1-1 A-10) 3-1 in the second half. Danielle Pelletier provided two of those three goals, while Jackie Lyons gave the Minutewomen the third.

The lone Hawk goal in the second half came off the stick of Jen Peters thanks to a Helene Tursi helper. Peter's goal came just 13 seconds after Lyons' goal put UM up 9-7. Pelletier's second of the day put the game away for good at 10-8 with 8:24 remaining.

In the first half that saw the two teams even in shots (13), saves (4), and turnovers (4) allowed for clean play and plenty of offense.

Saint Joseph's got on the board first when Julie Mineweaser found Martino in front of the net 4:22 into the contest. UMass would respond with two straight before Tursi and Martino scored the next three goals. In that span, Tursi had two of the goals and Jessica Westlake assisted on Tursi's second marker.

UM answered with three straight of their own before Grace Dinn evened the game at five apiece off a Peters' assist with 10:58 to go in the first.

Another UMass tally would come at 7:54 setting up a quick two-goal spurt by Martino and Mineweaser to give the Hawks their last lead, 7-6 with 28 ticks remaining. The Minutewomen would strike for a last second goal to knot things up at seven entering halftime.

Saint Joseph's out-shot UMass, 25-23 and picked up three more ground balls, 12-9. Massachusetts held the edge in draw controls (11-9), saves (9-8) and free-position goals (3-2).

Turnovers were nearly even as SJU had one less than UMass' 13. Massachusetts committed 35 fouls to the Hawks' 24, but Saint Joseph's had two yellow cards and two red cards to UMass' two yellows.

The Hawks will return to action next weekend when they travel to St. Bonaventure for a Friday clash at 3:00 p.m.

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PHILADELPHIA - Behind four goals from sophomore Jackie Lyons and nine saves from freshman goalie Katie Florence, the UMass women's lacrosse team downed Saint Joseph's 10-8 on Sunday afternoon. The win improves the Minutewomen to 2-0 in the Atlantic 10 and puts UMass (5-6 overall) in a three-way tie at the top of the league standings after the first weekend of play.

Next weekend, the Minutewomen will have a chance to take the top spot outright as fellow league-leaders Richmond (Friday, 3:00 pm) and George Washington (Sunday, 1:00 pm) both visit McGuirk Stadium.

Sunday's game was a back-and-forth affair which featured six lead changes and six ties. Lyons' fourth goal of the game proved the game-winner and Danielle Pelletier added an insurance goal with 8:24 remaining in the second half.

The teams entered halftime knotted at 7-7 as both squads traded goals throughout the first half. SJU's Jenna Martino opened the scoring four minutes, 22 seconds into the game, but Lyons responded with an unassisted goal just under a minute later to tie the game.

With 28 seconds left in the first half, Julie Mineweaser put the Hawks (5-6, 1-1 A-10) up 7-6, but UMass sophomore Haley Smith (2g, 2a) answered with nine seconds remaining to tie the game at the break.

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2009-03-29