Box Score The Misericordia University women's lacrosse team opened its Freedom Conference schedule with a thrilling 13-12 victory over defending conference champion FDU-Florham, Wednesday afternoon in Madison, NJ.
 
Melina Juliano led the Cougars on offense with five goals on 11 shots and also earned seven draw controls. Liz Mulvey added three goals while Erin Baker scored twice for MU. Brooke North, Jenny Perucca and Emily Hegner chipped in with one goal each. North had the lone assist.
 
Rachael Taylor picked up six ground balls while Alison Sacco and Juliano combined to cause three FDU-Florham turnovers in the Cougar victory.
 
Alexandra Elmes, Stephanie Piser and Kate Pagnotta chipped in with ground balls while Katie McLoughlin was credited with 13 saves and earned the win in net for MU.
 
The Cougars took advantage of free position shots scoring on seven of their nine eight-meter shots while FDU-was just 3-11.
 
Baker gave the Cougars an early 1-0 lead with her first goal of the game at the 27:48 mark of the first half, but Dana Amorosi tied it at 1-1 just over one minute later.
 
However, the MU offense scored the next three goals to take a 4-1 lead with 16:00 left in the opening half.
 
FDU-Florham then went on a 5-1 run capped by a Caitlyn McGinley goal at the 5:42 mark of the first half. Mulvey and Baker responded with two straight goals for the Cougars to earn a 7-6 lead at halftime.
 
The Devils regained the lead early in the second half, but Juliano caught fire, scoring three consecutive goals and giving MU a 10-8 lead with just under 15 minutes to play.
 
FDU-Florham refused to go away, again capturing a 12-11 lead with 5:45 left. However, Mulvey struck again for the Cougars knotting the game at 12-12 and Hegner gave MU the lead with 2:20 left.

The Devils had a chance to tie the game on an eight-meter shot with just 15 seconds left, but McLoughlin came up with the huge save, securing the victory.
 
With the win, the Cougars are riding a three-game winning streak and improved to 4-6 overall, including a 1-0 mark in the Freedom Conference. MU returns to action, Wednesday, April 9 in a Freedom Conference showdown with King's College at 7:00 p.m. at Mangelsdorf Field.