NEWTON, Mass. – Alyssa Kelly's (Lee, Mass.) goal with just 6:01 remaining in the second half proved to be the game winner in a thrilling back and forth Great Northeast Athletic  Conference (GNAC) contest as Mount Ida defeated Rivier by a final score of 16-15 on Tuesday evening on Alumni Field.

Kelly, who also added one helper in the game while good for six points, was also joined by Hayley Napier (Fairhaven, Mass.) who notched three markers of her own while also padding one assist, and Samantha Basler (Plymouth, Mass.) who recorded four goals and a dime. Nikki Kinneen (Salem, N.H.) totaled two goals and two assists in the conference contest while Briana Barker (Westerly, R.I.) and Nicole Pavao (Peabody, Mass.) each amassed a goal apiece.

Kinneen opened the scoring just seconds into the game when she put home her 1^st goal of the game to put the hosts up 1-0. Less than a minute later, Pavao found the back of the net off the stick of Napier to give the Mustangs the quick 2-0 advantage. Rivier junior Amanda Wickens (Tyngsboro, Mass.) cut the Ida lead in half at the 25:19 mark to bring the visitors back within one at 2-1.

It didn't take long before Kelly was on the board for the first time in the game when she tickled the twine with her 32^nd goal of the season just before Basler tallied her 10^th marker of the year to give the Mustangs a 4-1 edge. Raider Ashley Leal (Tyngsboro, Mass) scored her first of two goals in the game to bring Rivier back within striking distance at 4-2.

Both the Mustangs and the Raiders, after Leal's goal, exchanged goals for the next fifteen minutes that brought the first half clock all the way down to 5:17. Napier padded her 4^th of the campaign while Taylor Lirakis (Tewksbury, Mass.) got herself on the board followed by a tally by Basler before Lirakis scored her 20^th goal of the season to bring the Raiders back within two.

Basler and Napier once again struck for the Mustangs while putting the home team back in front 8-4 off Napier's free position goal. Lirakis scored her third goal of the opening half for the natural hat trick to send the teams to the locker room with Ida leading 8-5.

Mount Ida increased their three goal advantage (8-5) to five by scoring the first two goals of the second half off the sticks of Kinneen and Barker to pad the lead at 10-5.

Wickens was back at it seconds later when she added an unassisted marker that once again brought Rivier back within striking distance. Napier got one back for Mount Ida but just before the Raiders started to make things interesting with two straight tallies from Wickens and nearing the hosts lead at 11-8.

Just over a minute later, the Mustangs regained the slim advantage in which Kelly fired off three straight goals to increase the Ida lead to six at 14-8. Leal and Catherine Connolly (Nashua, N.H.) scored two straight for the Raiders before Basler found the back of the net off the stick of Kelly, her 17^th assist of the year.

Mount Ida, leading 15-11 with 7:19 on the second clock, saw Larakis and teammate Jane Farrell (Wilmington, Mass.) bring Rivier back within three goals at 15-12. Kelly added another for the Mustangs making it 16-12 before Jocelyn park (Londonderry, N.H.) fired off two straight goals alongside Farrell who scored the last goal of the game in which time finally ran out on the Raiders, while falling in a nail biter to the Mustangs.

Rivier also saw a couple players tally hat tricks in the game in which Wickens and Lirakis each tallied four goals apiece. Farrell, Leal and Park each recorded two markers themselves while Connolly added one.

Mount Ida (3-9, 2-3 GNAC) saw Jackie Tarsook (Derry, N.H.) take home the victory while Courtney Laperriere (Keene, N.H.) took home the loss for the Raiders (6-6, 3-2 GNAC).

The Mustangs are back in action on Saturday when they play host to Emmanuel with that game slated for 2:30 PM. Rivier will also return to the field on Saturday when they host St. Joe's (ME) with game time set for 1:00.