BALTIMORE — The host UMBC women's lacrosse team grabbed a share of first place in the America East Conference standings after defeating the UAlbany Great Danes, 12-11, on Saturday afternoon at windy UMBC Stadium.

"Today was not perfect; mistakes were made, but we played with heart," said UMBC head coach Amy Slade. We never backed down, and most importantly, we played as a team. We backed each other up, made big plays when we needed to, and did it together. That was a big win today! "

Junior midfielder Katana Nelson scored a team-high four goals, and junior attacker Grace Bruce, junior attacker Kolby Weedon, and sophomore midfielder Lauryn Warfield each added a pair of markers. Weedon scored her 100th career goal in the fourth quarter and added an assist and four draw controls. Senior netminder Isabella Fontana made seven saves to earn her eighth victory.

UMBC's (8-4, 3-1 AE) defense was sensational all afternoon. They caused 12 turnovers and made the high-scoring Great Danes (4-8, 3-1 AE) work extremely hard on their offensive sets. Sophomore defender Emily Renehan (three ground balls) forced a career-high four turnovers while senior defender Kennedy Evans and Weedon picked up three caused turnovers. Junior defender Avery Corino scooped up three ground balls. Evans moved into second place on UMBC's all-time list with 68 caused turnovers and is just four shy of breaking the program record.

The win was the Retrievers' first against the Great Danes since 2012. 

How It Happened

• The Retrievers jumped out to a 2-0 advantage two minutes into the contest as Nelson struck for a pair of goals. The first was a coast-to-coast effort off a turnover, and the second came on a free position opportunity.
• Paisley Cook scored a woman-up goal at the 9:51 mark off an assist from Mikaela Mooney to bring the visitors within one. However, Bruce answered with an unassisted tally just 1:30 later as she came around the cage and bounced in a winner.
• UAlbany then went on its biggest run of the game, scoring three straight times to take its first lead, 4-3, with 11:52 left in the opening half. Grace McCauley scored the first two goals, and Katie Pascale completed the run with a woman-up tally.
• UMBC responded as Warfield took a feed from Weedon on a woman up chance and beat UAlbany goalie Grace Cincebox at the 7:16 mark to even the game. Mary Ellis then found Alexis Abe less than a minute later to put the hosts back on top.
• Pascale tied the game for the third time in the half at the 3:43 mark, but Bruce buried her 43rd goal of the season, and Nelson beat the halftime horn as she went top-shelf with less than a second remaining to spot the Dawgs a 7-5 advantage at the break.
• The visitors opened the third quarter scoring with quick goals from Megan Dineen and Ava Poupard to get even for the final time in the contest.
• Weedon scored the game-winning goal off an assist from Bruce with 8:07 left in the match to make it 8-7. 
• The Retrievers then rattled off three more goals to complete a 4-0 run that extended their lead to 11-7 with 5:20 left in the third frame. Warfield, Weedon, and Nelson rattled the back of the cage during the critical stretch.
• UMBC still led 12-8 after sophomore midfielder Libby Staples scored for the 10th time this season with 8:32 remaining, but the visitors made things interesting with two goals within just 15 seconds by Pascale and Kloey Roos to make it 12-10 with 5:38 left.
• Roose trimmed the deficit to 12-11 on a tally with just five ticks left, and the Retrievers ran out the clock after winning the ensuing draw.

Notes

• Bruce now leads the team with 43 goals on the season and needs five more to climb into the top ten in program history.
• Nelson has added a career-high 32 markers and recorded her fifth hat-trick of the season.
• Ellis handed out two assists and has at least one helper in all 12 contests. Her 26 assists this season are the fourth-highest in program history, and she is two shy of tying Heather Kormanik ('98) for third.

Next

• UMBC will travel to Vermont next Saturday afternoon.