Box Score Lakewood, N.J-. The Georgian Court University women's lacrosse team opened the 2017 season with a valiant effort Saturday afternoon, falling just short against the #15-ranked New York Institute of Technology in a 12-7 final.   

The Bears (1-0) jumped onto the scoreboard first as Katie Meinecke (Sr.-Manorville, NY) netted her first tally of the season 1:39 into the contest. The Lions answered right back as Arianna Quinlan, making her collegiate debut, scored the first of her two goals to level the score at one with 23:06 left in the half.. NYIT, playing the first game in program history, would retake the lead as Alyssa Milano (Jr.-Holbrook, NY) went commando for the Bears and connected at 22:26, the first of her game-high six goals. The contest would remain close until the final minutes of the first half as the Bears opened a 9-4 halftime lead, scoring four of the session's final five tallies. The second half was an even affair as both sides were only able to manage three goals apiece.

Georgian Court was paced by Samantha Fernandez's hat trick and Quinlan's pair of finishes. Also finding their way into the scoring column were Xena Valenzuela and Kayanna Chandler as each netted their first goals of the season. Amber Neumann made five saves in the GCU net on 19 total shots by NYIT.

Next up for GCU will be a trip to the Nutmeg state on Wednesday as they take on The University of Bridgeport to start a three-game road trip. The Lions will return home on March 13th to host McKendree University.