SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. (March 22) - The Wheeling Jesuit University women's lacrosse team scored the game's final four goals to rally past Shepherd 14-13 in both team's Mountain East Conference (MEC) opener Friday evening.

The Cardinals improve to 4-3 overall, 1-0 in the MEC. Meanwhile, the Rams fall to 0-1 in league play, 3-4 overall this season.

Wheeling Jesuit trailed 13-10 with 8:38 left in regulation following a Shepherd goal. The Cardinals answered back with two goals in 71 seconds to cut the Rams lead to one. Senior Taylor Booth (Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada/Heritage Woods Secondary) tied the game up at 13-13 with 5:43 left in the match, before a goal just over two minutes later by senior Kate Calder (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) gave Wheeling Jesuit the lead.

The Cardinals forced a pair of turnovers and held the Rams without a shot over the final three minutes of the match to secure the come-from-behind victory and open MEC play with a win.

A trio of players for Wheeling Jesuit recorded three goals, including Booth, senior Ally Coggins (Mt. Airy, Md./Linganore) and sophomore Paige Orbell (Severn, Md./Old Mill). Reigning MEC Player of the Week Mackenzie Kaderabek (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's) tallied two goals, while sophomore Megan Mangia recorded three points with one goal and two assists.

Wheeling Jesuit opened up a 5-2 lead with 17:37 on the clock when Orbell notched her 13th goal of the season. Shepherd answered back to tie the game and exchanged goals down the stretch with the Cardinals to enter halftime tied at 6-6.

The Rams built up a 10-7 lead midway through the second half, before Wheeling Jesuit closed the gap to one, 11-10, behind goals by Booth, Coggins and Orbell. Shepherd pushed its lead back to three at 13-10 before the Cardinals made their move to collect the win in the conference opener.

Sophomore goalie Emma Stair (Westminster, Md./Mount de Sales Academy) made one save in the final 17 minutes in relief to pick up her second-consecutive win in net.

The Cardinals are back at it on Sunday, March 24 when they travel to Buckhannon, W.Va. to take on West Virginia Wesleyan in a MEC contest at 1 p.m.