Lee Stops 27 In Blue Devils' 16-15 Northeast Conference Win Over St. Francis (PA)

With only three minutes and 45 seconds remaining in the game the Central Connecticut (1-13, 1-6) women's lacrosse team had just given up three straight goals and found themselves tied 15-15 with St. Francis (PA) (1-10, 0-7). That was when junior attacker Lyndsey Mastandrea took things into her own hands and found the back of the net on an unassisted goal with only two and a half minutes left to play. The Blue Devils, behind senior goalkeeper Alice Lee's 27 saves, held on to defeat the Red Flash 16-15 in Loretto, PA for their first win of the season.

CCSU got off to a quick start when freshman Ashley Mara took a pass from senior captain Stephanie John to put the Blue Devils on the board first with only 31 seconds ticking off the clock. After two goals from the Red Flash, CCSU went on a 7-0 run to build the lead to 8-2 halfway through the first period. Freshman Alexa Smead kick started the stretch with two goals in a row and then assisted on another during the run.

After three straight goals from St. Francis, John got the Blue Devil lead back up to five when she scored two goals within 25 seconds of each other. The first came off an assist from sophomore Kacey Bisienere and the second was unassisted with 6:25 remaining in the opening frame. Each squad would score once more before the buzzer and CCSU led 11-6 at halftime.

Lee was fantastic in the first half, stopping 15 shots and only giving up six goals.

The Red Flash led the charge out of the locker rooms, tallying the first two goals of the second half to cut the CCSU lead to three. Central Connecticut countered with two goals of their own by Mara and sophomore Michele Conway to make it 13-8.

St. Francis then went on a 4-1 run to cut the Blue Devil lead to two with just over 10 minutes remaining. Freshman Ashley Perkoski scored off an assist from sophomore Jessica Roberts to give CCSU the three goal lead that they would then give away. The Red Flash got two goals from Kate Simmons and one from Sheri Fort to tie the game at 15. As the clock hit 2:31 Mastandrea gave the Blue Devils the lead for good and CCSU left Pennsylvania with the victory.

Lee finished with a season high 27 saves, while Danielle Pokusa stopped nine for the Red Flash.

Mara led the Blue Devils with four goals and added two ground balls and two draw controls, while John tallied three goals, three assists, four ground balls and three draws in the victory. Smead finished with three goals, an assist and four ground balls. To go along with her game winning goal, Mastandrea picked up a game high six draw controls.

St. Francis was led by Chelsea Kent's five goals, one assist and four ground balls. Simmons added four goals, an assist and five ground balls, while Birttany Kovacs totaled two goals and a team high five draw controls.

CCSU will return home for the final two games of the season as they host Manhattan on Tuesday April 14 at 7:00 p.m. and Sacred Heart on Friday April 17 at 4:00 p.m. St. Francis finishes up at home as well when they host Robert Morris on Friday April 17 at 7:00 p.m. and Manhattan on Sunday April 19 at 11:00 a.m.