Erie, Pa. – Whitley Easton registered nine points to lead Mercyhurst University to a 12-10 come-from-behind victory over the Le Moyne College women's lacrosse team on Wednesday afternoon in Northeast Conference action at Saxon Stadium.

The teams went back and forth in the opening quarter. Junior midfielder Sara Hunter (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) opened the game's scoring just over two minutes into the contest after taking a pass from classmate Bella Sampo (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill). Emma Cimino tied the score for the first time with 11:47 remaining. Less than one minute later, freshman attacker Mackenzie Prentice (Clay, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) put the Dolphins back in front. Following a green card on the Dolphins, Marlee Antinora converted a free-position shot in the extra-player situation with 8:26 remaining. Prentice scored again with 3:57 left after taking a pass in transition from sophomore midfielder Julia Blakeslee (Ithaca, N.Y./Ithaca). Easton answered back 70 seconds later to knot the score once again. Hunter put the Dolphins back in front 49 seconds later off a dish from Sampo. Easton tied the score for the fourth time with 15 seconds remaining in the quarter.

Le Moyne regained the lead 2:07 into the second quarter as Blakeslee found the back of the net.

The Lakers, who snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Dolphins and won for the first time since 2002, scored the next two goals to take their first lead of the game. Brynn Hall tied the score for the fifth time at the 6:06 mark off a feed from Easton. Amanda Bailey put the Lakers in front with 2:41 until halftime.

The Dolphins opened the third quarter with the first three goals to take their first multi-goal lead of the game. Following a green card on the Lakers, sophomore midfielder Maddi Barney (Lorraine, N.Y./South Jefferson) evened the score at the 8:18 mark. Just 36 seconds later, junior attacker Alexa Strelick (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas) gave the lead back to the Dolphins. Barney extended the lead to two with 5:55 left off a feed from Prentice.

Easton scored her third goal of the game with 5:06 remaining in the quarter to get the Lakers back within one.

Sampo pushed the margin back to two with 2:14 to go.

Mercyhurst tallied the first three goals of the fourth quarter to take the lead back. Just 25 seconds into the period, Cimino finished off a pass from Easton to make the score 9-8. Meghan Nasman evened the score at nine with 11:51 left after taking a pass from Easton. The Lakers went in front at the 7:31 mark as Ellie Schau converted off a dish from Easton.

Barney tied the score for the final time with her third goal of the day at the 6:47 after taking a pass from Blakeslee.

Cimino gave the lead back to the Lakers for good with 3:51 left after receiving a feed from Easton. Nasman extended the lead with 1:45 remaining off another pass from Easton.

Sophomore goalkeeper Amanda Manfredi (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip) suffered the loss between the pipes after making four saves. Senior defender Katherine Amico (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) tied her career high – and the program record – with six caused turnovers, while adding four ground balls. Maggie Allen recorded 10 saves in the victory for the Lakers.
 
Le Moyne (3-10, 2-4 NEC), which has dropped four conference games for the first time since the 2000 season, returns home to face Howard University on Saturday at 11:00 a.m.