ORLANDO, Fla. - The Neumann University women's lacrosse team closed out its 2019 Spring Break trip in Florida with a hard-fought 19-17 win over Eastern University on Saturday afternoon.

Kaitlyn Conrad was outstanding for the Knights on the afternoon, firing home eight goals and adding two assists for a ten point day. Courtney Petrucelli had six points in the game (4 g, 2 a), while Brittany Cassidy (2 g, 2 a) and Reilly Fiedler (4 g) each recorded four points. Catriona Corrigan was strong in goal, stopping 12 shots to pick up her second win of the season. 

The game would be back and forth between both teams on the afternoon. The game started slowly with no goals in the opening six minutes, but it would be non-stop action the rest of the way. Neumann took an early lead through Conrad at the 23:42 mark, but Eastern replied with two quick goals to take a 2-1 lead just over a minute later. The two teams traded goals to tie things up at three apiece before the Knights went on a run midway through the frame. Neumann tallied three unanswered goals from Cassidy, Conrad and Fiedler to take a 6-3 advantage with just over nine minutes to play in the half. Unfortunately for the Knights, the Eagles closed the half with five of the next six goals in the game to take an 8-7 lead into halftime. 

Eastern continued to pad its lead early in the second stanza, scoring three of the first five goals of the half to take an 11-9 lead with just over 20 minutes to play. Much like the first half though, the Knights used a solid run to push their way back in front. Using a 5-0 run over a six-minute stretch midway through the half, Neumann catapulted itself ahead by a score of 14-11 with 12:37 left to go in the contest. Conrad led the charge in the comeback, tallying three of her eight goals in that span. 

Eastern would not go quietly though. Just when Neumann looked to be pulling away with a three goal lead, the Eagles reeled the game right back in with three unanswered goals to time the game at 14-14 with 9:20 to play. From there the contest would see-saw back and forth the rest of the way. Neumann took a 15-14 lead via Cassidy, but two Eastern goals allowed the Eagles to retake the lead for the first time since early in the half. Neumann fought back with a pair of goals from Conrad to go in front 17-16, but again Eastern had an answer, tying the game up with 3:10 left on a man-advantage to tie things up and set the stage for a great finish. That is where the back and forth between the two teams finally stopped. Using a pair of late goals from Fiedler and Conrad with under two minutes left to play and some excellent defending and goaltending down the stretch, the Knights held on to the wild 19-17 win.

Neumann (2-1) will return home from Florida for its home-opener on Thursday, March 7th versus Rutgers-Camden. Game-time is scheduled for 4:00 PM.