LATROBE, Pa.-The Juniata women's lacrosse team pulled away in the second half to win a defensive battle at Saint Vincent, 10-5, Thursday afternoon.
Talia Bertrando (Lititz, Pa. / Warwick) found the back of the net 35 seconds into the contest as Juniata quickly went ahead. The teams battled over the next few minutes as the goalies denied both offenses until the Bearcats scored twice in six minutes to go up 2-1 with 10 minutes to go in the half. Arielle Danchenko (Palm City, Fla. / South Fork) scored on a free position shot to tie the game. The teams went into the half deadlocked at 2-2.
The second half opened with Natalie Gibson (Annapolis, Md. / Broadneck) scoring 13 seconds in to put the Eagles back ahead. From the 25-minute mark, Bertrando scored four goals over the next 14 minutes to give JC a five-goal cushion, 7-2.
The Bearcats broke up the Bertrando barrage to get within four, but Danchenko scored 20 seconds later. The teams traded goals two more times as Bertrando scored as JC was a woman up off a FPS shot and in the final two and half minutes set up Gibson for her second to close the scoring, 10-5.
The Eagles will open conference play at Drew, Saturday at noon.