PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia University women's lacrosse team broke an 11-all tie in the second half with three straight goals and then hung on to defeat visiting Dowling 14-13 in a non-conference match Saturday afternoon at Penn Charter High School.

Philadelphia improves to 3-1 overall as the Rams pick up their third consecutive win. Dowling suffers its first loss of the 2014 season and is now 4-1 overall.

After senior midfielder Libby Nichols (Ellicott City, Md./McDonogh) scored her sixth goal of the afternoon to tie the score at 11 with 12:45 left, junior attack Lauren Hartman (Sewell, N.J./Our Lady of Mercy Academy) converted two free-position shots 2:39 apart to put the Rams ahead 13-11 at the 7:38 mark.

Grad student midfielder Kristen Blye (Chester Springs, Pa./Downingtown East) extended the Philadelphia advantage to three by completing her hat-trick with an unassisted tally with 5:13 to play.

The Golden Lions closed within two at the 3:05 mark when Ashley Kupres put home a free-position shot. Jerilynn Goodfellow notched her second goal of the day, after receiving a pass from Kim Geirger, with 2:08 remaining to make it a one-goal affair.

The Rams gave the Golden Lions a chance to tie the game by taking a yellow card and giving Dowling a man-up situation with 1:39 left. Despite being shorthanded, Philadelphia managed to keep the ball in the offensive end of the field and forced Dowling's Allie Merrill to take a yellow card.

With both teams playing with eleven, the Rams played keep away for the final 42 seconds and earn the win.

In the first half, the Rams scored three straight times in a 3:41 to take a 5-2 lead. Sophomore attack Liz Mower (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area) started the spurt with a goal at the 24:28 mark. Nichols and Blye came through with free-position goals.

The lead grew to 7-3 after Nichols scored on two more free-position shots.

Dowling, led by a pair of goals from Jackie Andersen, had the final four goals of the half to tie the game at 7-7 at halftime.

Aside from scoring six times, Nichols had eight draw controls, three ground balls, and two caused turnovers.

Junior goalkeeper Kristen Moran (Walden, N.Y./Valley Central) recorded eight saves in the win (3-1).

Kelly Di Fede, Katie Meinecke, and Merrill found the back of the net twice.

In goal, Tina Fey stopped 12 shots.

The Rams converted eight of the 14 free-position attempts, while the Golden Lions were 2-7. Philadelphia owned a 37-25 shot advantage.

Philadelphia heads to Dominican (N.Y.) for a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference match on Monday, March 17 at 4 p.m.