Stetson Lacrosse fell to Niagara University Thursday night 20-17 in a back-and-forth game. 
 
The Hatters jumped out to an early 2-0 lead over the Purple Eagles with goals from Sam King and Kaitlin Pani. Niagara tied it up at two, but Lexi Bird was able to put one home for Stetson giving them back the lead. The two teams continued to trade goals until the score was tied at six at the end of the first period. Jordyn Humphrey scored twice, and King added her second for the Hatters in the first. 
 
The Purple Eagles tallied three goals to start the second period, but the Hatters answered back. King completed her hat trick and Georgia Goering tallied her first goal of the game. Niagara scored again but Stetson rallied with four straight goals. Molly Kearney, Bird, Pani and King all scored during that run. The Purple Eagles scored once more before half and the Hatters held onto a 12-11 lead. 
 
Goering started the scoring in the second half with her second goal of the game, but the Purple Eagles tied the game at 13. Charlotte Castiglione put the Hatters back on top with 1:50 to go in the third period but Niagara tied it up at 14 going into the fourth period. 
 
Kearney tallied her second goal of the game to start off the fourth period however the Purple Eagles found the back of the net twice in a row to take a 16-15 lead. Katie Kornacki tied the game back up for Stetson but three straight goals for Niagara put them out front with 3:23. Anya Phillips got one back for the Hatters, but the Hatters fell 20-17.
 
King was the leading scorer for Stetson with four goals. Her four points was tied with Humphrey for the team lead. Nine different Hatters found the back of the net. Kornacki, Kearney and Phillips each tallied 6 draw controls. 
 
Stetson will begin conference play as they welcome Jacksonville to DeLand on Saturday Mar. 23. The game will begin at 1pm at the Athletic Training Center.