SELINSGROVE, Pa. – A second half comeback doomed the Ursinus College women's lacrosse team as they fell 15-12 against Susquehanna University on Wednesday afternoon.
 


Senior Reilly Morgan led the offense finishing with a game-high four goals while first-year Ashley Noto recorded a career-high seven points behind two goals and five assists. On the defensive side, first-year Sophia Curtis tallied a game-high four ground balls while Julie Cherneskie and Abby Burkholder were each credited with two caused turnovers.
 

 
Over the first five minutes of action neither could connect on their offensive opportunities until the River Hawks added the first goal of the contest at the 9:35-mark. Ursinus quickly answered back as first-year Skylar Bogdan won the ensuing draw control and Noto found Morgan to tie the game at one a piece. The Bears their second goal at the 5:50-mark of the first period as Noto assisted Morgan once again to give Ursinus a 2-1 lead. The momentum swung in the Bears' favor as they rallied off three straight goals over the closing three minutes of action and controlled a 5-1 lead at the end of the first period. Within a minute, Noto collected her third and fourth assists of the afternoon as she found sophomore Grace Lynch and Reilly Morgan stretching the Bears lead to three. Noto was awarded for her passing as classmate Meghan Vizian found her cutting from behind the back of the net and she snuck her low shot past Susquehanna's goaltender for her first goal of the game.


 
Susquehanna answered in the opening minute of the second quarter as a goal at the 14:02-mark cut the Bears lead to three. Senior goalie Alexa Machado recorded two saves over the next three minutes as she stopped back-to-back River Hawks shot, including a free position opportunity at the 11:59-mark to keep the Bears lead at three. Susquehanna stormed back into the contest over the next four minutes scoring two goals and cutting their deficit to one with 7:46 remaining in the half. Junior Mary Michaud answered for Ursinus at the 6:10-mark, scoring her first goal of the contest on a free position opportunity to give the Bears a 6-4 advantage. Michaud sprinted at the River Hawks goalie and fake inside before using her backhand to sneak her shot for the goal. Ursinus extended their lead to three at the 4:38-mark as Noto earned her fourth assist of the game finding Vizian for her first goal of the contest. The Bears added the final goal of the first half as junior Gabrielle Liott assisted Michaud on a goal to give Ursinus an 8-4 lead at halftime.


 
 
The River Hawks quickly came out of halftime and scored three straight goals over the first seven minutes of action to cut the deficit to one. After an Ursinus timeout at the 8:34-mark, the River Hawks tied the game at eight a piece with a goal from Liv Owen with 7:41 remaining in the period. Susquehanna tallied two more goals until a women-up opportunity allowed Liott to score from a free position opportunity cutting the Bears deficit to one with 3:35 remaining in the period. Susquehanna scored the final goal of the period at the 2:42-mark capping off 7-1 run in the third quarter as they held an 11-9 lead at the break.


 
Susquehanna scored the opening two goals of the fourth period, before Ursinus answered with two of their own midways through the period from Noto and Morgan. Unfortunately, that's as close as the Bears would come as both defenses stood tall over the remaining six minutes of action as the River Hawks won 13-11.


 
The Bears will return to action on Saturday as they travel to Madison, New Jersey for a 1pm start against Drew University.