STANDISH - The Emmanuel College women's lacrosse team dropped a 7-6 decision to Saint Joseph's (Me.) on Saturday afternoon, falling to 4-4 overall and 3-1 in conference play despite a spirited rally that nearly forced overtime.

Emmanuel came out of the gates strong, jumping to a 2-0 lead in the first quarter. Emilia Ferraro opened the scoring at the 13:21 mark with a goal assisted by Anna Nichols, and Rylie Hogan added to the advantage on a man-up opportunity with just over three minutes remaining in the frame. Saint Joseph's got on the board late in the quarter when Taylor Dumond converted on a man-down free-position shot, cutting the deficit to 2-1 heading into the second.

The Monks flipped the script in the second quarter, outscoring Emmanuel 2-0 to take a 3-2 lead. Dumond struck again on another man-down goal — assisted by Sophia Burton — to tie the game at 13:24, then Burton put her team ahead moments later with an unassisted goal at 10:17. The Saints held Emmanuel scoreless throughout the period.

Madeline Wright gave Emmanuel life to start the third, converting a man-up free-position goal at 14:07 to tie it at 3-3. The game then swung back and forth in dramatic fashion. Saint Joseph's Ella Highbarger put the Monks ahead 4-3, but Emmanuel responded with back-to-back goals — first from Ferraro, assisted by Avery Robillard, and then Robillard herself converted on a man-up opportunity — to take a 5-4 advantage heading into the final quarter.

The fourth period belonged largely to Saint Joseph's. Dumond — who finished with four goals on the day — rattled off two quick scores at 10:06 and 9:01, sandwiched around a Zoey Lailer goal, to push the SJC lead to 7-5. Emmanuel refused to quit, with Ella Stein converting a free-position goal with just over a minute remaining to make it 7-6, but Emmanuel could not find the equalizer in the closing seconds.

Ferraro and Wright each finished with a goal, while Robillard tallied a goal and an assist. Stein and Hogan each contributed a goal as well. In net, goalkeeper Keira Walsh made five saves over the full 60 minutes.

Emmanuel held a significant edge in draw controls (10-5) and free-position shots (5-1), and outshot the Monks 21-19. However, Saint Joseph's dominated in ground balls (29-19) and committed fewer turnovers (22-25), giving them key possessions in critical moments.

UP NEXT
The Saints look to bounce back at New England College on Wednesday evening, March 25, at 4:00 p.m. in Henniker.