Heading into last Thursday’s nonleague lacrosse match at Germantown Academy, visiting Mount St. Joseph was coming off of a 10-4 loss to Marple Newtown High School. The host Patriots had just whipped Shipley, 18-4, but previously lost to two formidable Inter-Ac League teams (Episcopal and Agnes Irwin), falling 12-4 each time.

Now, it would be beneficial to both teams to have a really close competitive game, and that’s what developed in GA’s Carey Stadium on Thursday.

A late surge in the first period netted the Mount a 4-3 lead, but the Patriots had the edge at the end of each of the next two quarters, 7-6 and 9-8. Each side scored once in the final period, so Germantown emerged with a 10-9 victory.

GA (2-2 overall, 0-2 league) received three goals from junior Harper Henly and two from sophomore Ellerie Catullo, while the Magic (0-3, all non-league) marked down a hat trick for senior Gabby Clair and two goals apiece for senior Nora Feliciani and sophomore Neely Lesovitz.

Clair and classmate Emily Holmes (a defender) will go on to play at the University of Pittsburgh and Davison College, respectively. Feliciani and senior attacker Mads Maszczak will compete at Division II schools, Millersville University and Anderson University.

GA’s Maggie Luviano will join the program at Penn State, while her classmate Mia Curci heads to Stonehill College, which moved up to Division I last summer. A third senior, Anna Weber, will play D II lacrosse at Chestnut Hill College, where she’ll also play soccer.

Last Thursday, GA got on the board first, with Luviano scoring unassisted with a little under three minutes elapsed. Feliciani fired the icebreaker for the Magic two minutes later, and after another two minutes Germantown junior Caroline Baughman went straight up the middle to push the Patriots in front again, 2-1.

Off a feed across the front of the Mount cage by Henly, sophomore Audrey Mennerich scored a quick-stick goal for GA. The hosts were now up 3-1, and neither squad was destined to lead by more than two points the rest of the afternoon.

The junior goalie for GA, Olivia Kozak, turned aside another shot by Feliciani, but with just under two minutes left in the opening period, a Patriot foul led to a free-position goal from the center hashmark by a Magic freshman, Mairead McDonough.

It appeared that the hosts would hold onto a one-goal lead until the end of the quarter, but the Mounties scored twice in the final 8.2 seconds to forge ahead 4-3. First, Clair scored in transition on a bounce shot, then Lesovitz pocketed the ball off of the subsequent draw and dashed down to score just as the horn sounded.

GA was the aggressor as round two got underway, and the scoreboard tipped back to the home team’s favor with free-position markers by Catullo and sophomore Anna McVeigh. The next free-position call came at the other end of the pitch, where Clair converted for a 5-5 tie.

The next two scores came in real-time play, as Catullo shot her second goal and Henly then gave GA a 7-5 advantage. Clair completed her hat trick for the Magic with 2:36 left in the first half, and the count was 7-6 at the intermission.

A potential tying shot by MSJ sophomore Gia Mazzitelli was repulsed by GA’s Kozak in the opening minute of the second half, and a little later the hosts went up 8-6 as junior Sienna Paone rippled the net in the Mount St. Joe goal.

Germantown’s Kozak made nice saves on the first and last of the Magic’s next three shots, but in between the Mount’s Lesovitz scored after maneuvering for a shot near the eight-meter loop.

It looked like the fourth quarter would begin with an 8-8 tie when Mazzitelli split the pipes for the Magic with 38 seconds remaining in the third. However, Henly scored for the Patriots from about six yards out with just three seconds to go, making it 9-8.

The Pats bumped the lead up one notch to 10-8 when Henly deposited her third goal with 6:54 left in the game.

GA would have expanded its lead if not for two impressive saves by the Mount’s freshman goalie, Viv Raisch. The Magic called time out with 3:48 on the clock, still behind by two points.

Coming from the rear on the left side, Feliciani netted a ninth Mount goal with 1:41 remaining. After the draw, the visitors went on offense again looking for the equalizer, but GA’s McVeigh caused a turnover with just over a minute to play and the Patriots kept possession until the clock ran out.