ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – Back-to-back free position goals from Fiona McGovern broke a fourth quarter tie and sent the St. Bonaventure women's lacrosse team to an 11-9 win over visiting Saint Francis (PA) Tuesday afternoon at the Marra Athletics Complex.
Fresh off surpassing 100 career points in her last game at California less than a week ago, McGovern helped shut down a 5-0 Saint Francis run during the second half that erased what had been a commanding Bonaventure lead.
The Bonnies (3-3) raced out to a 9-4 advantage following a goal by Brooke Piper with 11:11 remaining in the third quarter.
The Red Flash (1-3) came roaring back, however, cutting the deficit to 9-6 after the third, then completed the rally on a goal from Danielle Hernandez for the 9-9 tie with still 8:07 to play.
McGovern scored the third of her four goals on the day with 6:54 on the clock to break the deadlock. Two minutes later, she struck on another free position opportunity to finish 4-for-4 in such chances for the afternoon and give Bona needed insurance late.
Saint Francis would only put one more shot on the net in the final minutes and it was denied by freshman goalkeeper Katelyn Hicks for one of her three saves.
Abby Hiltz joined McGovern in the 100-point club with her second quarter goal, one of two scores for the senior in the contest.
Brooke Piper also had two goals and an assist for three points while Kassi Hogan, Megan Schillinger and Tori Nascimento all found the back of the net in the win as well.
McGovern also handed out an assist for five points, powering the offensive attack.
Defensively, sophomore Brit Colangelo turned in a standout performance with a career-high four caused turnovers along with four groundballs, also adding a draw control.
Schillinger (four), Olivia Peeler (three) and Piper (two) all tallied multiple draw controls for the Brown and White.
Ashley Herrick started in net and made three saves as well for Bona's.
The Bonnies led across the board statistically, owning leads in shots (30-19), groundballs (17-13), draw controls (12-10), and forced 16 Red Flash turnovers.
Lizzie Fisher posted a hat trick for Saint Francis while Bella Fisher tallied four points.
St. Bonaventure now turns its attention to Atlantic 10 play with the first conference game of the year coming up Friday on home turf vs. George Washington. First draw is set for 3 p.m.
GAME NOTES
- The Bonnies are now 2-0 at home and have won back-to-back games overall.
- McGovern and Hiltz become the 17th and 18th players in Bonnies history to reach 100 career points.
- McGovern currently stands 16th in Bona career points (106). Next up: current head coach LeighAnn Stauffer, '17 (115).
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