Box Score BALTIMORE, Md. - Seeking their second consecutive victory, the Notre Dame Maryland lacrosse team was stymied by visiting Neumann College as the visiting Knights handed the Gators a 19-9 loss in a Colonial States Athletic Conference contest at Alumnae Field on Wednesday afternoon.

The Knights, who came into the game with an 0-7 record, took out their frustrations on the Gators. Neumann fo exploded an 8-1 lead in the game's first 16 minutes, forcing Notre Dame to play from behind the rest of the way. 

Senior Shae Risley gave the Knights a 2-0 lead less than two minutes into the contest when she scored an unassisted goal and then scored off a pass from senior Diana Caicedo with 28:04 remaining in the half.

Sophomore Megan Morales cut the deficit to 2-1 when she scored the first of her team high four goals off a pass from freshman Summer Corey.

With 24:10 left in the half, sophomore Kaitlyn Conrad scored on a free position shot to give Neumann a 3-1 advantage. Conrad's goal started a 6-0 run which put the Knights up by 8-1. Caicedo gave Neumann a 4-1 lead when she scored off a pass from Brittany Cassidy. Risley tallied her third goal of the game off a pass from Conrad to make it 5-1 before Taylor Klever and Caicedo added goals to put Neumann ahead, 7-1.

Freshman Courtney Peterucelli capped off the 6-0 run by scoring the first goal of her college career.

After junior Kaitlyn Walter scored off a pass from Morales to cut the lead to 8-2, the Knights got back-to-back goals from Carlee Herrin and Taylor Kiever for s 10-2 advantage. 

Senior Brittany Smith scored a free position goal and Walter scored her second goal of the game to pull Notre Dame to within 10-4 with 3:39 remaining in the half.

But, Neumann closed out the half with back-to-back goals from Conrad and led by 12-4 at halftime.

In the second half, Caicedo got the Knights off to a strong start as she scored an unassisted goal just 1:01 into the half. After Morales scored for the Gators, Conrad added an unassisted goal and Klever scored a free position goal to give the Knights a 15-5 advantage with 26:22 remaining left in the game.

After Caicedo scored to give Neumann a 16-5 lead, Morales scored off a pass from Kirstin McGee to make it a 16-6 lead. That goal started a 3-0 run which included goals from Corey and Morales' fourth goal of the game. That spurt cut the Knights' lead to 16-8 with 10:30 to play.

But, Neumann put the finishing touches on its first win of the season by scoring three goals the rest of the way while holding Notre Dame a goal by Corey with 7:37 remaining.

The Knights, who outshot the Gators by a 38-19 margin, were led by Conrad, who had six goals and three assists. Caicedo added four goals with three assists while Risley also had four goals. Klever added three goals for Neumann, which was averaging fewer than five goals per game.

The Knights got strong goalkeeping from sophomore Gabby Curry and senior Becca Wallace. Curry allowed four goals and made four saves in her 30 minutes of action while Wallace had three saves in the second half.

Morales led the Gators with four goals and an assist while Walter and Corey had two goals each. Corey, Walter and McGee also added assists for the Gators who were held to their lowest score of the season.

Senior goalkeeper Deja Martin made 11 saves for the Gators.

The Knights' defense played a pivotal role in the victory. Led by Cassidy, Neumann forced 30 turnovers in the win, Cassidy had seven ground balls and forced five turnovers.

Now 1-4 on the season and 1-1 in the CSAC, Notre Dame returns to action on Saturday, April 1 when the Gators travel to Marywood University for a 1:00 contest.