by Alexis Thomas

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - The St. Bonaventure University women's lacrosse team (4-6, 1-3 Atlantic 10) takes on conference rival La Salle (4-9, 0-4) on Friday at 2 p.m. at Alfred University's Merrill Field.

LaSalle (4-9) started the season with key wins over Iona (17-6), Layfayette (9-8), Davidson (14-12), and a loss to Massachusetts (17-4).

LaSalle's leading scorer, Melanie Sarcinello (28g), had a breakout performance against Davidson, with eight goals including the game-winner in overtime.

The Bonnies are coming off a loss to No. 11 UMass at Alfred University's Merrill Field April 10. Freshman goalie Karly Kocis had a career high 16 saves for the Bonnies. Junior Danielle Drabin led SBU with three goals, and junior Emily Kane and freshman Lily Timlin each had an assist.

In a tightly contested early going, UMass took a 5-2 lead and started to pull away after a ball caromed off a defender's stick and into the net. The Minutewomen scored three straight goals to end the half with a 7-3 advantage.

Massachusetts scored 29 seconds into the final period, before SBU rattled off three of the game's next four goals to make it 9-6. UMass responded with three unanswered goals of its own to put the game just out of reach, although the Bonnies pulled to within four, 14-10, with 4:39 to go.