PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – For the third time this season, a top-five battle took center stage at Northwell Stadium as the No. 1 Pace University women's lacrosse team took on No. 4 East Stroudsburg University and came away on top, 9-5.

The Setters improve to 7-0 while handing the Warriors their first loss of the season, dropping to 5-1.

It was none other than Angelina Porcello who led the offensive charge for the Blue and Gold out of the gate, scoring three of the first four goals of the game to give Pace a 4-0 advantage with under seven minutes to play. The Warriors got on the board for the first time thanks to Campell Heller, but Porcello got the goal back to give the Blue and Gold a 5-1 lead at the end of the opening 15 minutes.

With their work cut out for them, the Warriors got to work in the second, keeping the Setters off the board for the entire second quarter while netting three goals of their own to make the score, 5-4, in favor of the home team at halftime.

The Warriors tied the game up with the first goal of the third quarter, but that would be the final time ESU would score all afternoon. Annie Sheehan returned the lead to Pace three minutes later and Maddie Schubert and Mackenzie Carita added insurance goals to create much-needed space from the Warriors.

Porcello finished the day with four goals, a pair of ground balls, three caused turnovers, and seven draw controls. Delilah Doyle also caused a trio of turnovers while Alexandra Quinn caused two while securing four turnovers. Samantha Tanguay stood firm in the net, making nine saves and only yielding five goals.

The Setters will return to action next Saturday, Mar. 30, for the team's first road game of the 2024 season, heading to the University of New Haven for a 7 p.m. start.