ST. DAVIDS, Pa. (March 25, 2017) – Freshman Melanie Bert (Oceanside, N.Y.) scored six goals, and had one assist, to help propel the Widener University women's lacrosse team to a 16-14 victory over Eastern on Saturday afternoon at Olson Field.

Sophomore Megan Racioppi (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) opened the scoring for the Pride just seconds into the game, but the Eagles (1-6) responded quickly by netting one unassisted goal to tie the game. The two teams were neck-and-neck the entire first half until Bert finally put Widener ahead by two with an unassisted goal that brought the score to 9-7. The Eagles quickly regrouped and answered back in seconds cutting the deficit back down to one. The teams continued to trade goals until the end of the half, however, Widener remained ahead entering the recess with a 10-9 lead.

The Pride wasted no time and came out strong in the second half with a 3-0 run to put them ahead 13-9 in the first few minutes. Eastern quickly answered back with a 3-0 run of their own to get themselves back in the game. Sophomore Kristi Roher (Seaville, N.J.) broke up the eagles scoring streak with an unassisted goal to secure the Pride's lead by two. With seven minutes remaining on the clock, Eastern would score the last goal of the back-and-fourth battle, however, it was not enough to come back to defeat Widener who took the lead early and never lost it.

Bert paced Widener (1-1) by registering a career-high seven points on six goals and one assist. Sophomore Kelly Lynch (Springfield, Pa.) and Roher each added a hat trick, while senior Jamie Parent (Millville, N.J.) won seven draw controls and picked up four ground balls. Senior Grace Morales (East Norwich, N.Y.) made 14 saves between the pipes.

Widener (3-4) will return to action when it travels to Reading, Pa. to play Alvernia on Wednesday, March 29 at 7:00 p.m.