FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The monkey is officially off the backs of the Sacred Heart women's lacrosse team as the Pioneers held off a late-charging UMass Lowell team to defeat the Riverhawks, 11-8, and score their first win of the season. An impressive performance from the Pioneers in multiple facets, SHU's victory moves the team to 1-5 on the season while UMass Lowell falls to 3-6 with the outcome from Campus Field on Saturday afternoon. After going up three midway through the second half, the Pioneers saw the Riverhawks rattle off a pair to cut the margin to 8-7 with 14:41 remaining. On the ensuing UML possession, Elizabeth Small stepped up and forced a turnover which the Pioneers converted into a Lydia Werlau goal on the other end to swing momentum back in favor of the home side. Hanna Wise then finished off the Riverhawks with her fifth and sixth goals of the day as the Pioneers were able to get past UML and into the win column for the first time in 2019. Wise played a large role in the outcome, netting a career-high six goals as the senior accounted for more than half the entire goals scored on the day for the Pioneers. Small, meanwhile, tied a school record as the junior defender recorded seven caused turnovers on the day which is a single-game mark that has only been met twice before in program history. Cassie Cesario either scored or assisted on five of the six SHU goals in the first half as she finished with six points (three goals, three assists) on the day while Sydney Ericson added three assists and freshman goalkeeper Shana Hecht tallied 10 saves for her first career win in the cage. SCORE Sacred Heart 11 / UMass Lowell 8 RECORDS Sacred Heart (1-5) / UMass Lowell (3-6) LOCATION Campus Field / Fairfield, CT