NEW HAVEN, Conn. - On Wednesday night, the Albertus Magnus College women's lacrosse team dropped a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) home tilt to the Saints of Emmanuel (Mass.) College by a final score of 20-7 under the lights at Celentano Field.

Senior Keegan Riccio (West Haven, Conn.) led the offensive attack for the blue-and-white by recording her first hat trick of the season, along with an assist. Albertus had four players - Kaitlin D'Agostino (Hamden, Conn.) Alexandra Barrett (Northford, Conn.), Serena Montague (Englishtown, N.J.), and Mariah Mandulak (Shelton, Conn.) - score a goal in tonight's setback. 

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Emmanuel 20 | Albertus Magnus 7
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (0-7, 0-4 GNAC) | Emmanuel (7-1, 4-1 GNAC)
BOX SCORE

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• The Falcons came out of the gate with the upper hand as Mandulak scored her first goal of the spring campaign after receiving a nice feed from Barret just 21 seconds into regulation. 
• Following Mandulak's goal at 14:39, Riccio was able to find the back of the net on a free-position shot to give the blue-and-white a two-goal advantage, 2-0.
• However, the Saints responded with nine unanswered goals to take a commanding 9-2 lead over the Falcons, until a goal from Montague broke up the scoring run and trimmed the deficit to six, 9-3, with 3:28 left in the first.
• The Saints closed out the quarter with two additional goals to bring the score to 11-3. 
• In the second quarter, the Falcons found the back of the net at the 14:17 minute mark from a shot by Barrett, assisted by Riccio. 
• After a scoreless eight minutes and 50 seconds, Saints' Megan Steele scored from a pass by Ali Bergin to increase Emmanuel's lead by eight, 12-4.
• Less than a minute later, Riccio pushed between the pipes, once again, to score for the Falcons with 4:49 remaining in the half. 
• The Saints ended the second quarter with two goals scored in the final 37 seconds of play for a nine-goal lead, 14-5, at the half.
• Emmanuel kicked off the scoring in the third quarter with a pair of goals by Ella Marschitz and Avery Robillard.
• Riccio, the Falcons' top offensive threat of the evening, scored her third and final goal of the night when she tallied her second free-position shot of the game.
• The Saints continued their scoring when Briana Stephenson tallied a goal with 16 seconds remaining in the third quarter, 17-6.
• Emmanuel notched a pair of goals in the fourth quarter before D'Agostino was able to drive in to score with 5:23 left to play.
• The Saints put one final goal in the net at the 1:10 mark to close out the game at 20-7.

TOP PERFORMERS

Albertus:
Keegan Riccio: 3 goals | 1 assist | 7 shots | 1 ground ball | 1 caused turnover
Alexandra Barrett: 1 goals | 2 assists | 3 shots | 3 ground balls | 1 caused turnover
Kaitlin D'Agostino: 1 goals | 1 shot | 2 ground balls

Emmanuel:
Livia Fedele: 4 goals | 1 assist | 6 shots | 3 ground balls | 2 caused turnover
Megan Steele: 3 goals | 1 assist | 5 shots | 2 ground ball | 1 caused turnover
Ella Marschitz: 3 goals | 1 assist | 3 shots | 1 ground ball 

NOTEWORTHY

• Tonight's game marks the eighth all-time meeting between the Falcons and Saints. 
• Riccio has scored three or more goals for the fourth time in her career. 
• Mandulak opened the scoring with her first goal of the season. 
• Barrett picked up her fourth game with two assists. 
• D'Agostino tallied a goal in her third straight game. 
• Laila Webb (Montclair, N.J.) led the defensive attack with two caused turnovers. 
• D'Agostino and Riccio won three draw controls each. 

UP NEXT
The women's lacrosse team hits the road Saturday, April 1, as the Falcons battle against the Monks of Saint Joseph College of Maine. The game time is set for 2:00 PM.