HILTON HEAD, S.C.- The Immaculata women's lacrosse team kicked off their 2013 season against Emerson (1-0) in Hilton Head, S.C., and after a come back from five goals down to take a second half lead, the Mighty Macs (0-1) fell 13-12 in a close season opener.  Freshman Shannon Neill scored five goals and had one assist in her first career game as a Mighty Mac and freshman Allison Jakavick enjoyed a great start to her Mighty Mac career with three goals.
 
The Lions jumped out to a 2-0 lead before freshman Kelly Lapp tallied the first Mighty Mac goal of the day and the first of her career.  The Lions would race out to a 9-4 advantage with 4:22 to go in the first half before the Mighty Macs scored the final three goals of the half to take a 9-7 deficit into halftime.
 
Immaculata didn't slow down offensively in the second half as they ripped off four straight goals coming out of the break to take an 11-9 lead with 13:13 to go in the game.  Emerson would then score the next three goals to put an end to the 7-0 Immaculata run to take a 12-11 lead themselves.
 
The Mighty Mac defense was key during the run as they held the Lions without a goal for over 21 minutes.  The defense was led by seniors Megan Chacosky (five groundballs, two caused turnovers), Anne Moulton (team-high seven groundballs, two caused turnovers) and junior Caitlin Caruso (team-high four caused turnovers).
 
After falling behind by one goal, the Mighty Macs again fought back to tie it up with 6:16 left in the game.
 
Each team battled for the go-ahead goal when the Lions scored the game-winner with 3:57 to claim the 13-12 victory.
 
Junior Katie Cook had two goals and a team-high four draw controls and sophomore Alyssa Petito had the final goal for Immaculata along with a team-high four assists.
 
Junior Nicole Behrndt was solid in her first career start in net with 14 saves.
 
The Mighty Macs will return home for their first game at Draper Walsh Stadium on Wednesday at 4 p.m. against Lebanon Valley.