The Sacred Heart University women's lacrosse team fell 14-9 to The College of the Holy Cross Wednesday afternoon at Stetson College in DeLand, Fla.  The loss drops the Pioneers to 0-3 on the year, while the Crusaders improve to 2-4.

The Crusaders built a 6-2 advantage with 9:36 left in the first half when Margie Smith netted her second consecutive goal, capping a three-goal run for Holy Cross.  Shelby Vaccaro answered with her first of the day, just shy 1:53 later to begin a 3-0 half-ending run.  Alyssa Pearce scored at 3:15 and Vaccaro netted her second with 2:09 left in the period, and the Pioneers went to intermission trailing 6-5.

Holy Cross scored two goals in quick succession early in the second-half to extend the lead to three, 8-5. Vaccaro once again snapped the mini-run, with her third at the 25:55 mark, and 22 seconds later Jesslyn Joseph scored a pass from Cailtin Delaney, to get Sacred Heart back within a goal, 8-7. The Crusaders scored the next three goals, over an eight minute span to push the advantage to 11-7. Jenna Liljeberg momentarily halted the run with a tally at the 10:25 mark, but the Crusaders answered again with three straight goals, again in just under eight minute, to put the game out of reach.

Vaccaro finished with five points, scoring four times and adding an assist, while Liljeberg scored twice in the contest. The Pioneers won 10 draw controls, five from Vaccaro, and Kelly Keenan recorded three of the teams 12 caused turnovers.  Keenan made 12 saved and had a game-best eight ground balls.

The Pioneers continue their spring break trip on Saturday when they take on Stetson at 1 p.m.