IMMACULATA, Pa. - The Immaculata University women's lacrosse team gave its seniors a day to remember with a thrilling, come-from-behind 16-15 victory over Neumann Saturday afternoon in Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) play. Sophomore Layne Kennedy netted the game-winning goal with 19 seconds left, while Brittany Whaley scored a game-high seven goals on Senior Day to pace the IU offense.

With today's result, the Macs lock up the three-seed in the 2018 CSAC Women's Lacrosse Championship.

HOW IT HAPPENED
-In a tightly contested first half, senior Brittany Whaley came out ready to go on her Senior Day, scoring four of the Macs' first five goals as IU trailed by one at the 6:25 mark of the first half.
-Hannah Verrecchia and Maura Murray each netted goals in the first half as IU entered halftime down by a pair at 8-6.
-Immaculata came out of halftime on a mission, netting five unanswered goals to take an 11-8 lead at the 21-minute mark of the second half. Whaley netted her fifth, before Murray added a pair and Verrecchia and Kennedy capped off the run with single tallies.
-Neumann stormed back with five goals of its own in the next six minutes, erasing the deficit and regaining the lead at 13-12.
-With under 12 minutes left in regulation, Rosemarie Reitman rose to the occasion with goals on consecutive IU possessions, pushing the Macs back in front, 14-13. Whaley then found the back of the net on a free-position opportunity - her seventh goal of the day - giving the Macs a two-goal cushion with just over eight minutes remaining.
-The Knights battled back to tie the contest at 15 with just over three minutes remaining, setting up one of the season's most memorable finishes.
-With just over a minute remaining in regulation, the Knights appeared to have a one-on-one opportunity in front of the net and beat the keeper with the shot, but a penalty disallowed the goal, awarding the possession to the Macs with about 40 seconds left.
-IU went down the field quickly with a pair of passes around midfield to complete the clear attempt, the last pass coming off the stick of Murray to Kennedy in front of the crease, who buried it past the keeper with 19 seconds remaining.
-Lex Goerlach made a few huge saves down the stretch to keep the Macs in the game on defense, culminating in her seventh-straight win in the cage since taking over the post.

TEAM COMPARISON
-Immaculata held the edge in shots, 41-28, including a 21-11 advantage in the first half.
-The Macs held a slight edge in shots on goal, 29-24.
-IU forced Neumann into 26 turnovers, while committing 25 of its own.
-IU was 17-of-23 on its clear opportunties. Neumann finished the day 18-of-23.
-Neumann collected more ground balls, 22-20.
-The Macs claimed 22 of the 33 draw controls on the day.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
-Goals: Whaley 7, Murray 3, Verrecchia/Kennedy/Reitman 2
-Assists: Dominick 4, Murray 2, Reitman
-Points: Whaley 7, Murray 5, Dominick 4, Reitman 3
-Draw Controls: Whaley/Verrecchia 9, Carter 4
-Ground Balls: Verrecchia 4, Gallagher 3
-Caused Turnovers: Gallagher 5, Verrecchia 3


UP NEXT
Immaculata (11-3, 6-2 CSAC) looks to extend its current win streak Monday night at Rutgers-Camden in non-conference action.