BELMONT, N.C. - - Host Belmont Abbey scored six consecutive goals in the second half to post an 18-13 come from behind victory over UVa-Wise in non-conference women's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon. In the loss, senior McKayla Grasham became just the second player in program history to score 100 career goals as she netted a team-high five goals in defeat.
UVa-Wise (2-4) took its only lead of the second half at 13-12 when freshman Caroline Earnshaw scored her fourth goal of the game to cap a 6-0 scoring spurt by the Cavaliers with 13:08 to play.
Belmont Abbey (3-4) countered by scoring the next six goals in the game to take an 18-13 lead with 3:36 remaining. Marin Felsoci scored three of her game-high eight goals during the stretch propelling the Crusaders to a Senior Day win.
The Cavs held leads of 5-3 and 6-5 in the first half only to see the hosts immediately answer.
Following a goal by UVa-Wise's Katie Allen at the 16:45 mark, Belmont Abbey scored 11 seconds later to make it a 5-4 game. Less than two minutes later, the Crusaders' Kylie Eastman tied the game.
When Grasham scored to give her team a 6-5 lead at the 13:02 mark of the first half, Eastman scored 30 seconds later to once more tie the game.
The quick answers were part of a day that also saw the hosts have two separate quick scoring bursts. In the opening half, the Crusaders scored twice in 33 seconds before finding the back of the cage three times in 99 seconds in the second half.
While Belmont Abbey was scoring in quick spurts, UVa-Wise had two elongated scoring droughts in the second half that proved costly. The Cavs did not score over the first 7:04 of the second half before later going over 11 minutes in between goals later in the final period.
Belmont Abbey won 25-of-35 contested draw controls during the game which thwarted opportunities for quick scoring chances by UVa-Wise. The Crusaders also converted 7-of-12 free position shots while limiting the Cavs to just two free position shots in the game.
Grasham's 100th career goal came with 2:05 to play when she scored unassisted; she joins teammate Kristin Gobbi as the only players in the five-year history of the program to reach the century mark in goals scored.
Fellow senior Sydney Steinberg matched Grasham with six points on the day. Steinberg handed out a game-high four assists while adding two goals.
Jessica Apgar led the Cavs with four groundballs and three draw controls while Caroline Earnshaw added three groundballs to her four-goal day.
Meghan Dennehy's team will be off until March 22. That day, the team will play host to Queens University of Charlotte at Smith Stadium.