EDWARDSVILLE – Despite a five-goal explosion in the fourth quarter, the Wilkes women's lacrosse team fell to Mount Saint Mary College 13-9 in the team's non-conference matchup Saturday afternoon at Bruggeworth Field.
 
The Colonels dropped to 0-2 while the Knights opened their season with a win.
 
Delisianna Naccarato opened the scoring at 13:27 after receiving a pass from Victoria Ward. WIlkes goalkeeper Brooklynn Donia (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township) came up huge with two saves in the opening stages of the game before Mount Saint Mary tacked on three more unanswered goals at 9:34, 9:22 and 7:23 of the first quarter.
 
Ava Ward (Mount Pleasant, SC/Bishop England) notched her first goal of the season with 5:36 remaining in the quarter to get Wilkes on the board. The Knights answered right back with a 5-1 marker at 5:24 and finished the first frame with a 5-1 lead.
 
Samantha Scott (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) took over in net for the Colonels and was immediately tested, turning aside a shot just a minute and 17 seconds into the second quarter. The goalkeeper stood tall once again just over two minutes later when she stopped a free position shot.
 
Maleah Cobham (Westbury, NY/W.T. Clarke) scored her third goal of the season at 8:20. The unassisted goal cut the deficit to three before the Knights responded with their sixth goal of the night.
 
Only 40 seconds after Mount Saint Mary's goal, Cobham ripped another shot to the back of the net. Brooklyn Pedana (Pittston, PA/Pittston Area) picked up a helper on the 6-3 tally at 7:16 of the second.
 
The Knights scored a free position goal with 5:31 left in the first half and took a 7-3 lead into halftime.
 
The Knights struck first in the second half before Ward potted her second of the afternoon at 5:42. Two quick goals by Mount Saint Mary increased their lead to six with five minutes remaining in the quarter.
 
A late goal with 49 seconds left in the third gave the Knights an 11-4 advantage heading into the final 15.
After the visitors scored just over five minutes into the fourth quarter, Ward fired home her third goal of the game to complete the hat trick. The goal seemed to give the Colonels some momentum as the team rattled off three more unanswered goals thanks to Breanne Fulling (Hyde Park, NY/Franklin D. Roosevelt), Pedana and Anmarie Lebron (Pennsauken, NJ/Pennsauken). The four-goal explosion brought Wilkes to within four goals with just over five minutes remaining in regulation.
 
The Knights stopped the bleeding with a goal at 4:37 that was quickly erased when Pedana scored her second of the afternoon. Sam Mullen (Dover, PA/York Catholic) assisted on what proved to be the final goal of the game, as Mount Saint Mary would hang on through the remainder of the fourth and take the contest by a score of 13-9.
 
Ward's four-point performance (3 G, 1 A)  led the way for Wilkes while Pedana followed with 3 points (2 G, 1 A) and a team-high five shots on goal. Ward captured agame-high eight draw controls and scooped up four ground balls along with Carley Yuhas (Wyoming, PA/Wyoming Area). Fulling caused three turnovers while Donia and Scott combined for 14 saves in net.
 
Ward accounted for seven of Mount Saint Mary's goals, fired 11 shots on goal and picked up six draw controls. Naccarato and Ward each snagged five ground balls. In goal, Liz Petrellese and Payton Curley posted nine and four-save performances respectively.
 
The Colonels return to the field on Wednesday, February 28 when they pay a visit to Gwynedd Mercy University. The start time against the Griffins is set for 4:00 p.m.