After trailing 6-3 into the second half, the women's lacrosse team scored seven unanswered goals in 18 minutes to take the 12-7 win over the No. 20-ranked Eagles of the University of Mary Washington (UMW) on Saturday afternoon at Lion's Stadium.
The Lions stand at 3-2 on the season with the win over UMW and a 9-8 loss against Gettysburg College last week.
"We know (other teams) are going to evaluate their season with their performance against us," head coach Sharon Pfluger said.
The Eagles led 5-3 at the half after opening up the game with a 4-0 run with senior Karen Pickering and junior Kaitlyn Barker scoring two goals each.
Opening the second half, the Eagles took a 6-3 lead as Barker scored on her free position attempt at 27:33. The Lions then launched an offensive barrage, scoring seven straight goals to take the lead 7-6 at 21:40 on a goal by freshman Katie Ruether with an assist from sophomore Kate Neese.
"They definitely came out more intense than us," said senior Bridget Bigley.
"I think we've learned a great deal about the way we need to play from the start," Pfluger said. "It's a hard lesson to learn and hopefully we've learned and we're going to get better from that."
Dougher led the team with three goals, including an assist on the game-winning goal, while Bigley also added three goals.
Lions' senior goalie Megan Marquardt made three saves with seven goals allowed in net to end to the team's two-game losing streak. UMW's sophomore goalie Meredith Deitrick recorded 12 saves in net.
On Thursday, fifth-ranked Gettysburg College scored twice in the opening four minutes of the game and never trailed as the Bullets gave the Lions their second straight defeat by the score of 9-8.
"It's obviously disappointing to lose two games early on in the season," Lions' captain Lauren Dougher said. "It's better to lose games now and learn and figure out what we need to fix."
By halftime, the undefeated Bullets led 6-4 and never let the College come within two goals, until Bigley scored on a free position shot with 11 seconds remaining on the clock.
"We kind of dug ourselves into a hole in the first half," Dougher said. "We didn't take advantage of the opportunities that we had."
For the Lions, sophomore Karen Doane added four goals and an assist and freshman Rachel Gordon netted two goals. Sophomores Krissy Browning and Katie Ceglarski of Gettysburg combined for six goals, with Ceglarski notching four.
Gettysburg senior goalie Heather Kelley had a big night with 10 saves. Marquardt, in goal for the Lions, had two saves and senior Paige Lucard made one.
Lions lacrosse action continues Thursday when the College is scheduled to host the College of Mount Saint Vincent at 7:30 p.m.
