BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Mar. 19, 2015) - On Thursday, sophomore midfielder Connor Bird (Syosset, N.Y.) tallied a career-high eight points to propel the No. 8/11 LIU Post women's lacrosse team to a 20-11 win against Philadelphia in non-conference action at Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium.

Bird scored five goals and allocated three assists in her career-best eight-point showing. She also collected seven draws in the victory. Red-shirt sophomore attacker Emily Delaney (Long Valley, N.J.) totaled six points (5 G, 1 A), five ground balls and three caused turnovers. Senior midfielder Jenna Pierro (Holbrook, N.Y.) and sophomore attacker Stefani Vagelatos (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) had four points apiece.

Trailing 2-0 early in the first half, the Pioneers (4-2), who outshot the Rams (1-4) by a 36-25 count in the contest, notched seven unanswered goals in a six-minute stretch to go up 7-2 at the halfway point of the period. Vagelatos went off for all three of her goals on the afternoon in the run. Delaney tallied back-to-back markers over a span of 3:22. Bird dished out a pair of helpers.

Philadelphia rallied late in the stanza to close the gap to 9-7, but LIU Post found the back of the cage three times in the last 1:54 to bring a 12-7 advantage into the break. Bird scored two goals just 22 seconds apart, while Pierro struck the netting, off a Bird pass, with 18 seconds to go.

In the second half, the green and gold never led by fewer than five goals, as the two squads traded scores for much of the entire 30-minute session. Delaney, Bird and junior defender/midfielder Kaitlin Gaghan (North Massapequa, N.Y.) notched two goals apiece in the period to seal it for the Pioneers.

Defensively, senior Kali Maxwell (Colorado Springs, Colo.) won six draws and scooped up four ground balls. Classmate Emily Hanifan (Hicksville, N.Y.) caused three turnovers.

For the game, LIU Post racked up 23 ground balls and 20 draw controls to Philadelphia's 17 and 13, respectively. The Pioneers were 15-of-19 (78.9 percent) on clears and 8-of-12 (66.7 percent) on free-position attempts, as well.

Head Coach Meghan McNamara and her LIU Post team return to action Saturday (Mar. 21), when they host Roberts Wesleyan in an East Coast Conference showdown at 2 p.m. at Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium.