Box Score The Misericordia University field hockey team held off a late rally to capture a 3-2 victory over William Paterson at Mangelsdorf Field on Wednesday night.

Emily Hegner, Jennifer O'Neill and Colby Eldridge had the goals while Lindsay Hischak and Danika Watto were credited with the assists for the Cougars.

Hegner gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead, hammering home a loose ball in front of the cage at the 27:17 mark of the first half.

The Pioneers got one back just four minutes later when Courtney Chelf fired a shot from the top of the circle into the top left corner of the cage. The teams would play to a 1-1 tie in the first half.

MU reclaimed the lead just one minute into the second half when Hischak sent a pass across the front of the cage that O'Neill sent in for a goal, making it a 2-1 game.

Eldridge then added what proved to be a huge insurance goal at the 62:28 mark, crushing a shot from the top left side of the circle that went sailing into the top of the cage to give MU a 3-1 advantage late in the game.

The Pioneers added a goal five minutes later when Elizabeth Kerr found the back of the cage to make it a 3-2 game with just over two minutes left in the game.

The Cougars defense stood tall, not allowing a shot despite an abundance of pressure from the Pioneers' forwards.

Angela Pasquini, the reigning Freedom Conference Defensive Player of the Week, picked up two saves to earn the victory in cage for the Cougars while Meg Davies had three saves for William Paterson.

The Cougars held a commanding 16-7 advantage in shots and a 9-8 advantage in corners en route to the victory over the Pioneers.

With the win, MU improves to 7-5 while William Paterson falls to 4-8 on the season.

The Cougars travel to Eastern to resume Freedom Conference play on Saturday morning at 11:00. MU is currently 2-0 in the Freedom Conference with victories over Manhattanville and FDU-Florham.