Williamsburg, KY – The third-ranked UC women's lacrosse team utilized a fast start and a late defensive stance to defeat Tusculum 15-14 in their season opener Wednesday night at the UC Lacrosse Complex.  With the win, the Patriots remain unbeaten in season-openers.

Emily Heim led the way for the Patriots with four goals, four assists, and eight draw controls.  Samantha Tullar netted five goals and four draw controls, while Bella Ricchiazzi notched five points in the win.  Defensively, Emily Crump made 13 saves to earn her first win of the season and put her career total to 405 saves.

The Patriots game out firing as Jaclyn Berry connected with Katie Brewer for goal 32 seconds in the first half.  Cumberlands won five straight draw controls as Heim and Tullar combined for five straight goals and two assists to extend UC's lead to 6-0 with 23:32 remaining.  Tusculum netted back-to-back goals before UC took advantage of a Pioneer penalty as Heim scooped a ground ball and found Berry for a man-up goal to extend the lead to 7-2.  The two teams traded goals twice, before the Heim-Berry connection struck again for a man-up goal giving Cumberlands a 10-4 edge.  The Pioneers added a late goal to cut the lead to 10-5 at the break.

The Pioneers came out strong in the second half scoring five unanswered goals to tie the score at 10-10 with 17:39 remaining.  Berry scooped the ensuing draw control and on the Patriots possession Heim made a hard dodge towards the cage and put a well-placed shot past the keeper.  That goal sparked a 3-0 run to extend the Patriots lead to 13-10 midway through the half.  Minutes later, Tullar and Ricchiazzi converted consecutive goals to push Cumberlands lead to 15-11 with 5:06 remaining.  Tusculum added a goal two minutes later to cut the lead to 15-12.  After a 40 rain delay, the Pioneers took advantage of a pair of UC penalty for man-up goals to make it 15-14 with 27 second remaining.  In the final seconds, Crump came up with her biggest save of the night as she stopped an Emily Youngblood free position shot to preserve the 15-14 win.  

The Patriots will return to the field Monday, February 16, when they travel to West Point, GA to take on Skyhawks.  Live video of the game will be available here, while live stats are available here.

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