MANSFIELD, Conn. – Jenna Mahoney scored four times in the fourth quarter to give the Eastern Connecticut State University Warriors a 12-10 come-from-behind win over the University of Southern Maine Huskies women's lacrosse team on Friday evening in Little East Conference action. The Warriors entered the fourth quarter trailing 10-7 and scored five times to take the lead. Neely Hart assisted on two of Mahoney's goals and scored one herself in the quarter. Hart finished the game with two goals and three assists.
 
Junior Julia McKenna (Windham, Maine) scored four goals and had two assists for the Huskies while also causing a team-high three turnovers, picking up four ground balls and winning six draw controls. The Huskies also had a hat trick from junior Anna Byers (Milford, Ct./ Joseph A. Foran) and two goals from sixth-year senior Rachel Shanks (Naples, Maine/Lake Region).
 
The Records:
Southern Maine: 5-6 (1-4 LEC)
Eastern Connecticut State: 8-6 (5-0 LEC)
 
Series History:
Today's game marked the 30th meeting between the two programs. The Warriors lead the series 19-11.  
 
The Goaltenders:
Southern Maine: Cece Racine (3-7), 60:00, 12 goals allowed, 13 saves
Eastern Connecticut State: Mackenzie Brown (8-4), 60:00, 10 goals allowed, nine saves
 
How It Happened:

• McKenna and Byers each scored twice in the first quarter to help the Huskies to a 5-3 lead. Shanks also scored a goal. Abby Parisi, Hart and Sydney Goyette had goals for the Warriors with Hart and Kaylee Drobish logging assists.
• Parisi cut the lead down to 5-4 with an up goal early in the second quarter before a pair of free-position attempts allowed the Huskies to extend their lead to 7-4. Sophomore Raegan Bechard (Augusta, Maine/Cony) had her free-position shot saved by Brown but the rebound was misplayed and ended up in the back of the net. McKenna then converted a free-position shot of her own.
• The Warriors tied the game at 7-7 with just under eight minutes left in the half thanks to a 3-0 run that featured goals by Alexa Vizzini, Parisi and Goyette and two assists by Jessie Pyrek-Bennett. The Huskies were able to take an 8-7 lead into halftime when McKenna scored another free-position goal with 1:25 remaining in the half.
• Racine made four saves and held the Warriors scoreless in the third quarter and her offense was able to bring the lead to 10-7 with goals from Byers and Shanks less than a minute apart. Rinaldi and McKenna were credited with the assists. Brown had a good performance to limit the damage and finished the quarter with five saves.
• The Warriors chipped away at the lead in the fourth quarter with Mahoney scoring her first goal 1:09 into the period. Eastern Connecticut then got within a score thanks to a goal by Hart. A yellow card on Southern Maine gave an advantage to the Warriors and Mahoney scored again to tie the game at 10-10 with 6:41 left on the clock.
• The Huskies turned over the ball on the next possession when Parisi intercepted a pass in her own zone and set up a successful clear. Mahoney then gave the Warriors their first lead of the game by ripping a shot to beat Racine low with 4:38 remaining. She added her fourth goal of day 1:21 later to lengthen the lead to 12-10 with 3:17 still on the clock.
• McKenna won the ensuing draw and ran through the Warrior defense only to see her shot stopped by Brown's stick. The Warriors controlled the rebound and transitioned to offense where they managed to run down the clock before Racine dined a wraparound attempt to allow the Huskies another shot on offense. Brown made another clutch save by stopping a turnover shot by Byers with 1:11 left and the hosts were able to hold on to remain undefeated in conference play.

 
Inside The Stats:

• The Warriors went 0-for-2 on free-position shots but managed three woman-up goals including Mahoney's score that tied the game.
• Draw controls were even at 13-13 with McKenna's six leading all players followed by Parisi and Drobish with five.
• Eastern Connecticut led 26-15 in ground balls but the Racine's five led all players. McKenna, Parisi and Addison Twohill each had four. Parisi also had four caused turnovers.

 
Up Next:
The final week of the regular season for the Huskies features a trip to Rhode Island College on Wednesday for a 4:00 pm game and then the team will return home to celebrate Senior Day prior to Saturday's 12:00 pm game against Vermont State University Castleton.