PITTSBURGH, Pa. – La Roche women's lacrosse for the first time, begins a season 2-0, after defeating Bethany, 11-9, in a hardly fought matchup.
Both defenses shined in the first quarter, as the score sat 2-1 in favor of the Redhawks, 15 minutes in.
At 12:59, La Roche found the back of the net to open the scoring as Alecia D'Urso scored on an assist from Jasey Reiser.
The Bison would tie the game 10:27 later, then with 11 seconds remaining, Reiser scored free position to give the edge to the Redhawks through one.
Bethany opened second quarter scoring at 1:31, then La Roche's response came at 6:13 when Kinsey Sperling scored on a Kiki Nemcek assist to regain the lead.
The game was tied back up at 5:37 when the Bison equaled the score at 3-3.
The Redhawks built a two-goal edge as D'Urso scored unassisted at 5:15, then Reiser and Sperling connected at 2:50.
However, Bethany would score the final two goals of the half and into the break the game was tied at 5-5.
The Bison took their first lead of the game at 8:27 of the third to make it 6-5, but once again, D'Urso tied the game at 6:41 and then La Roche regained the lead at 3:36, when Jade Fuccaro scored on a Sperling assist, making it 7-6 Redhawks heading to the fourth.
Bethany would tie the game one last time at 11:39 of the fourth and D'Urso again broke the tie, scoring her 10th of the season at 10:24.
Reiser followed to give La Roche a two-goal edge at 8:39, then D'Urso added more insurance at 5:42, going up 10-7.
The Bison would score their remaining two goals at 4:24 and 14 seconds and the final Redhawk tally was scored by Reiser, assisted by Nemcek at 3:13.
The shot total ended well in favor of Bethany, 28-23 and shots on goal were 22-19, Bison.
Reiser led the team offensively with six points (four goals, two assists), while D'Urso chipped in her five goals.
Julianna Hornikel earned the victory, stopping 13 of 22 shots she faced, while adding a ground ball and caused turnover.
Nicole Schroeder led the team with four ground balls, while her and two other caused two turnovers, leading the way.
La Roche returns to action on Saturday, Mar. 8 when they travel to face Spalding. Opening faceoff is set for 12 p.m.