COLCHESTER, Vt. - Southern New Hampshire University nearly erased a six-goal first half deficit, but fell 12-10 to Saint Michael's College in Northeast-10 women's lacrosse Tuesday afternoon at Duffy Field.  The Purple Knights upped their record to 2-5 and 2-4 in the NE-10, while the Penmen are now 2-5 and 1-5 in the league.

Courtney Piper led Saint Michael's with five goals and an assist, while Kealy Moyna, Kate Boyer and Steph Bonewald all finished with two goals apiece for the Purple Knights.

Southern New Hampshire was led by Alexa Allen (East Longmeadow, Mass.), who finished with three goals and an assist.  Kennedy Daziel (East Hampstead, N.H.) and Ellen Decker (Foxboro, Mass.) each tallied two goals and an assist, while Casey Duggan (Framingham, Mass.) notched a goal and an assist.  Emily King (Florence, Mass.) and Lindsay Bucknam (Bow, N.H.) each added single goals.

Saint Michael's raced out to a 6-0 lead in the first half, with a Paige MacKinnon free position goal at the 13:09 mark giving the hosts the six-goal advantage.  The Penmen halved the lead, pulling within 6-3 at halftime after back-to-back goals by Decker and an Allen goal 3:52 before intermission.

SNHU twice in the first 1:42 of the second half to cut the lead to 6-5 following a King free position goal.  The hosts scored the next two goals and built a 10-7 lead at the 20:42 mark, but goals by Daziel at 18:39 and Allen at 17:52 made it a one-goal game.  The Penmen cut the lead to one one more time, on a Duggan goal at 14:25 that made it 11-10, but the Purple Knights added an insurance goal with 8:29 left to close out the scoring.

Penmen goalie Nicole Kennedy (Windham, Maine) made five saves while Saint Michael's counterparts Grace Gunning and Casey Curtin combined to make six stops as the hosts held a 21-19 shot advantage.

Southern New Hampshire returns to action Thursday when it travels to Post University for a 3:00 non-conference contest.

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