MANCHESTER, N.H. A trio of American International College women's lacrosse players netted hat-tricks, but it was not enough as Southern New Hampshire defeated the Yellow Jackets, 21-15, in Northeast-10 action this afternoon from Larkin Field.

The loss drops AIC to 8-7 overall and 5-6 in conference play while the victory moves SNHU to 11-4 on the year and 7-4 in the NE-10.

A stagnant start saw the two team's trade goals at the 22:43 and 21:52 mark with the latter being scored by senior Kelly Reilly (Corning, N.Y.) for the 1-1 tie.

The Penmen then ran off six consecutive goals including four from freshman Kristin Wilder (Framingham, Mass.) for the 7-1 edge at the 10:37 mark before the Jackets fought back with back-to-back tallies by junior Riley Brennan (Wilbraham, Mass.) and freshman Mikayla Demanche (Rochester, Mass.) at the 7:21 and 5:13 mark, respectively.

Southern New Hampshire came back with three more quick scores before junior Stefanie Dufresne (Belchertown, Mass.) found the back of the cage, but the Penmen added a late goal with just six seconds before halftime for the 11-4 lead at the break.

SNHU opened the scoring in the second half, but AIC had a quick answer as senior Cheyenne Carden (Branford, Conn.) netted her first of the game at 25:55 for the 12-5 deficit. The teams continued to trade goals early on in the second half as Dufresne netted another for AIC before the jackets got three consecutive markers to pull within five at 14-9 midway through the final period.

Junior Jessica Lawler (Mexico, N.Y.) netted a pair and freshman Mary Bates (Longmeadow, Mass.) added the other for the visitors, but the Penmen promptly responded with five straight to hit running time and put the game out of reach at 19-9 with 11:31 remaining.

American International wouldn't go away quietly as Lawler and Brennan scored again as AIC outscored the hosts 5-3 down the stretch with Bates notching another as well as Carden and Brennan for the final score.

Junior Alexis Torosian (Hopkinton, Mass.) stopped 11 shot, but falls to 8-7 with the loss. Brennan, Lawler and Carden all collected three goals apiece with Bates added a pair with one assist and Dufresne had a single tally with a pair of helpers, three ground balls and four draws.

AIC was outshot 43-28 including a 33-24 clip on target, but they controlled ground balls (19-16 and draw controls (21-15).

The Jackets return to action on Wednesday with a 6 p.m. affair at Southern Connecticut.