WEST HARTFORD, CONN. - The New England College women's lacrosse team fell in a tightly contested Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) matchup, dropping a 10-9 decision to the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) on Thursday evening. 

Senior Mackenzie McDonald (Boscawen, N.H.) set up senior Meadow Gilchrist (Stamford, Conn.) for the game's opening goal, giving the 'Grims an early 1-0 lead. The Blue Jays responded minutes later to tie the game, but then scored back-to-back goals to take a 3-1 lead midway through the first. Sophomores Lilly Vaughn (Belmont, N.H.) and Riley Davis (Weare, N.H.) answered in the closing minutes, each finding the back of the net to even the score at 3-3 at the end of the first quarter. 

Gilchrist opened the second quarter with her second goal of the game to put NEC back in front, and a minute later, Davis added her second to extend the Pilgrims' lead. Reagan Buscetto answered two minutes later to cut into the lead, but Gilchrist completed her hat trick with another strike, restoring a two-goal cushion. The Blue Jays rallied late in the quarter, rattling off four straight goals to take an 8-6 lead into the break.  

The teams traded chances throughout the third quarter, but the Blue Jays struck twice to push their advantage to four. Just 54 seconds into the final quarter, junior Carmela Goodwin (Lebanon, N.H.) scored to spark a comeback, and two minutes later, Davis completed her hat trick to cut the lead to two. The back-and-forth continued down the stretch, with Goodwin tallying her second goal of the game to make it a one-goal contest with 3:57 remaining. The 'Grims pressed late and used a timeout to regroup, but the Blue Jays defense forced a turnover with 52 seconds left to seal a 10-9 victory.  

Gilchrist and Davis each recorded hat tricks to lead the offense, while Goodwin added two goals along with four ground balls and three caused turnovers. McDonald dished out two assists and chipped in four draw controls as sophomore Jamie Blondin (Oakville, Ont.) contributed a ground ball, a caused turnover, and three draw controls. In goal, freshman Tatum Villa (Framingham, Mass.) tallied 13 saves and added a ground ball and a caused turnover. 

The Pilgrims continue GNAC play on Saturday, hosting Saint Joseph's College of Maine at Don Melander Field with a 1:00 PM start. 

For continuing coverage of New England College Athletics, visit athletics.nec.edu and follow the Pilgrims on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.