CLEARWATER, Fla. – Emmanuel women's lacrosse overcame a slow start to pick up their first victory of the season, defeating the Bridgewater College Eagles, 9-7, on Thursday morning from Philip Jones Field, as part of the Saints Spring Break contests in Florida.

The Saints move to 1-1 in the early going and head back to Boston with conference games approaching. The Eagles drop to 3-2 as the return to Virginia, going 1-1 on their Spring Break.

Emmanuel and Bridgewater swapped goals in the opening five minutes with Eagles senior Jenna Entsminger and Saints junior Avery Robillard scoring for their respective side. Bridgewater finished off the quarter with a 3-1 lead, scoring a pair of goals 13 seconds apart by first-years Paige Overeem and Carly Gardill.

The offense stalled in the second quarter as the two sides combined for just nine total shots. Among those was two more tallies for Robillard, as she finished off a first half hat trick, leading to a 3-3 tie at the break.

The third quarter produced far more offense than the previous two as Bridgewater outscored the Saints 4-3 to hold a one-goal lead, heading into the fourth. Entsminger had three goals in the quarter with Overeem adding a tally of her own. Saints senior Rachel Canedy and junior Madeline Wright combined for the Saints three tallies, as they trailed by one with 15 minutes to go.

Just as they did in the second quarter, the Saints held the Eagles off the scoresheet in the fourth quarter, helping them in Thursday's comeback win.

First-year Maddie Noonan scored her first career goal with 7:14 remaining to tie the game at 7-7. With under two minutes to play, Wright finished off her hat trick with the eventual game-winning goal, giving the Saints an 8-7 lead with 1:35 to go. Robillard added further insurance with just six seconds left, sealing Emmanuel's 9-7 victory.

Robillard finished her afternoon with four goals and six ground balls, both career-highs for the junior midfielder. Wright scored three goals to go along with three ground balls. Senior Isabella Thomas made nine saves in the Saints goal, coming away with the win to improve to 1-1.

Entsminger finished with four goals and a pair of ground balls in the loss. Overeem added two goals and a team-high five ground balls while senior Kena Gresham ended the morning with two assists.

The Saints are back in action on Saturday, March 8, as they make the short trip to Lasell for an 11:00 a.m. game in conference play. The Eagles host non-conference foe Southern Virginia on Wednesday, March 12, at 4:00 p.m.