CHESTERTOWN, MD. – A fourth quarter comeback fell just short as the Ursinus College women's lacrosse fell 16-15 to Washington College on Wednesday evening at Roy Kirby Jr Stadium.  
 
 
With the loss, Ursinus falls to 5-7 overall and move to 1-2 in Centennial Conference action. Meanwhile, the Shorewomen improved to 6-6 on the season and 2-1 in conference play. Senior Maeve Leonzi and sophomore Jaime Michaud lead the Bears offense with four goals apiece. Meanwhile, junior Ashley Noto tallied three assists and two goals, while Dana DeSiato collected four points, behind three assists and one goal.
 
 
The Shorewomen got off to a fast start, scoring the first six goals of the game to take a commanding lead with 5:55 remaining in the first period.  Washington College capitalized off a string of turnovers by the Bears, while five different goals scorers gave the Shorewomen an early advantage. At the 4:42-mark, Ursinus earned a woman-up opportunity, capitalizing soon on a goal by senior Grace Lynch with 3:19 remaining. Washington College denied a free-position chance by the Bears, before Lynch forced a turnover leading to a one-on-one opportunity for the Bears' first score. Shortly after, DeSiato and Michaud each added their first goals to make the score 6-3 with 2:16 remaining in the quarter. The Shorewomen added the final goal of the period to earn a 7-3 lead heading into the second stanza.
 
 
Washington College carried the momentum into the second quarter, scoring each of the first four goals to extend its lead to 11-3 with 6:46 remaining in the half. Ursinus responded by netting the final three goals of the first half to make the score 11-6 at the halftime break. For the Bears, Leonzi tallied her first score before back-to-back goals by senior Julia McCann cut the Bears deficit to five. Sophomore Whitney Hershey setup McCann on her first goal, while Noto collected an assist on McCann's final goal of the first half.
 
 
Each team opened the second half with a score, before Ursinus scored on back-to-back opportunities to cut their deficit to 12-9. Michaud and Leonzi each scored on woman-up opportunities, while Michaud scored her third goal of the game to bring the Bears within three. Washington College answered with three goals of their own to increase their lead back to six, holding a 15-9 lead at the 3:05-mark. The Bears cut their deficit back to four, scoring the final two goals over the final two minutes of the quarter and entered the final stanza trailing 15-11. Each defense stepped up over the first half of the fourth quarter, until Leonzi broke the scoring drought with a goal at the 6:43-mark. The Bears kept the offensive pressure scoring three of the next four goals but trailing 16-15 with 1:44 remaining in the game. With nine seconds remaining, Ursinus launched a pass into the offensive zone, finding Leonzi in front of the goal with just two seconds left. Unfortunately, the Bears' final shot deflected off Washington College's netminder, resulting in the 16-15 defeat for Ursinus.
 
 
 
Ursinus held a 32-29 lead in shots, a 22-17 edge in shots on goal, while Washington College posted a 17-16 advantage in ground balls. Ursinus cleared 80.9% (17-of-21) of their opportunities, while the Shorewomen finished with a clear percentage of 93.7 (15-of-16). First-year Allison McAnally suffered the loss in goal, earning four saves over 24 minutes of play, while junior Susie Miller denied four shots in the final 35 minutes of action.
 
 
The Bears return to action on Saturday, April 5th for a road matchup against No. 3 Gettysburg College at 1 p.m.