BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The LIU Brooklyn women's lacrosse team outscored visiting Saint Francis U in the second half Thursday afternoon on LIU Field, rallying to beat the Red Flash, 12-10. LIU has now won five of their last six games, and improved to 3-1 in the Northeast Conference with the victory.
 
The first half of the game was a goal-for-goal affair, as SFU and LIU were locked in a battle. The Blackbirds got on the board first, when junior Bianca Santucci scored off a pass from Amanda Masullo just 30 seconds into the game. But the visiting team answered just 18 seconds later to tie it up, 1-1. Less than a minute later, Masullo gave LIU a 2-1 lead off a pass from freshman Kaylee Riggins, but again, two minutes later, the Red Flash answered, tying the game up. Then SFU would score again, but it was sophomore Rachel Masullo who would answer, scoring an unassisted goal to tie it up, 3-3.
 
Santucci would score again, and Amanda Masullo scored back to back goals to put LIU up, 6-4 with 10 minutes left in the first half, but SFU would answer by scoring three straight goals. Rachel Masullo would score in the final minute of the first half, and the two teams went into the halftime break locked up, 7-7.
 
In the second half, however, the Blackbirds would widen the lead, and SFU wouldn't answer. Santucci scored her third goal of the game two minutes into the stanza to put LIU up, 8-7, and freshman Isabelle Peng added another one a minute later, to give the Blackbirds a 9-7 lead. Amanda Masullo added another goal to widen the lead to three, 10-7 with 17:35 to play.
 
Every time SFU would threaten from then on, the Blackbirds would answer with a goal. The Red Flash closed the lead to 10-8, so on the next draw, Amanda Masullo won the draw control, ran down the field, and passed it to Rachel Masullo, who netted the goal, and put LIU up 11-8, just 9 seconds after SFU's score.
 
The visitors would threaten in the final ten minutes, scoring twice to close the gap to just one point, but freshman Isabelle Peng came up clutch for LIU with four minutes left, scoring off a pass from Amanda Masullo to give LIU a 12-10 advantage. From there, the Blackbirds' defense went to work, including goalie Sam Kidd. Kidd faced two SFU free position shots in the final three minutes, and saved them both, keeping the Blackbirds ahead. LIU also forced a crucial turnover on defense in the final two minutes, and drew a penalty that would allow them to play a man up for the last 60 seconds.
 
Kidd finished the game with 13 saves and five ground balls. Amanda Masullo led the point scorers, with four goals and three assists, along with six draw controls, three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Rachel Masullo finished with three goals and three assists, while Bianca Santucci had three goals. Freshman Isabelle Peng had two goals for the Blackbirds, along with a caused turnover. Seven different Blackbirds caused turnovers on defense for LIU, while junior Tori Gray had three ground balls, and senior Carlie Robinson and freshman Riley Hollenbach each had two ground balls for the Blackbirds.
 
Up next, LIU hosts Robert Morris in downtown Brooklyn, Saturday, April 20 at 11 a.m.