HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Lander women's lacrosse team held three first-half leads but encountered a long scoreless drought that ultimately resulted in a 17-7 loss to No. 2 seed Alabama-Huntsville in Friday afternoon's Gulf South Conference Tournament semifinals.
The Bearcats were in search of their third trip to the GSC championship game in the last four years. They finished the season with a 7-9 record as UAH (10-8) moved on to face No. 1 seed and undefeated Flagler in Sunday's final, who beat Lee 23-5 earlier today.
Kylie Fragala,
Caroline Nicholson and
Emelia Tippett scored during the first quarter as LU came out with intention.
Sophie Warren made it 4-all with 11:33 remaining in the second quarter and was followed a minute later by
Morgan Hill who scored a free-position goal to give the Bearcats a 5-4 lead.
Kayla Smith restored a one-goal, 6-5 lead with 6:36 to go in the half. The Chargers then scored three in a row to grab an 8-6 halftime lead.
UAH extended its cushion to 11-6 across the first 12:32 of the third quarter. Smith finally ended the dry spell with 1:17 left in the third on an unassisted goal that turned out to be Lander's last.
Addi Hazlewood was turned away from point-blank range early in the fourth quarter and
Ella Benson hit the crossbar on her free-position attempt with six minutes to go.
Benson, playing in her last game at Lander, caused a pair of turnovers and corralled a career-best five draw controls.
Kaia Morey also caused two turnovers in her final game as a Bearcat.
The Bearcats had a 60% success rate on free-position attempts, going 3 for 5.
