Worcester, Mass. (April 8) -- In a game played in constant sleet and freezing rain, the Assumption College women's lacrosse team dropped a 13-9 home final to Pace University in the first-ever meeting between the two programs on Wednesday night at the Multi-Sport Stadium.

Pace jumped on the board first on a free-position goal by Courtney Sulfaro for the 1-0 lead just 21 seconds into the game. Junior Molly Brown (Manchester, N.H./Manchester Central) answered with an unassisted score just under two minutes later as the teams traded goals over the first five minutes of the game. The Setters took the first two-goal lead of the game with 19:56 left in the first half with goals from Makayla McDermott and Emily Ankabrandt. Assumption eventually closed back to within 5-4 at the 11:57 mark as senior Camille Auger (Kennebunk, Maine/Kennebunk) put home her 22nd goal of the season to make it a one-goal margin.

The Setters closed the first half on a 3-0 scoring run though, including the second goal of the game from Sulfaro with just five seconds left in the period to make it an 8-4 margin heading to the break.

Pace outshot Assumption 17-12 in the first half, while Assumption held the 15-10 advantage in ground balls and successfully converted 8-of-10 clear attempts over the opening 30 minutes.

Freshman Alexis Pastore (Baldwinsville, N.Y./Charles W. Baker) got the Hounds on the board first to open the second half and the Hounds eventually trailed just 9-6 with 22:26 still on the clock. Pace answered with another 3-0 scoring spurt though and took control with the 12-6 lead at the midway point of the period. A man-up goal from Brown at the 4:48 mark, followed by the second goal of the game by sophomore Tori Russo (South Windsor, Conn./South Windsor), sparked the Hounds to pull within 12-8 with just 4:08 remaining.

The teams traded goals over the rest of the game though as the Setters picked up the eventual 13-9 victory.

Sophomore Jaclyn Chirco (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton) made eight saves in the loss, while Alissa Silvestri stopped 14 shots for the team's fourth win of the season.

Brown paced the Hounds with the hat trick, along with two goals by Russo and a goal and an assist from senior Amy McNeil (Orange, Conn./Amity) and sophomore Quincy Wilkins (Wilbraham, Mass./Minnechaug).

Casey Gelderman led the Setters with three goals and one assist, along with two goals each from four other players.

For the game, Assumption outshot the Setters 31-27 and held a commanding 32-21 edge in ground balls. The Hounds also converted 16-of-18 clear opportunities and forced 22 Pace turnovers for the game.

The Hounds fell to 8-4 overall and 4-4 in the Northeast-10, while Pace is now 4-7 overall and 2-6 in league play.

Assumption is back in action on Saturday, April 11th as the Hounds host the University of New Haven for a 1 p.m. start.

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