YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – Women's lacrosse dropped a 20-15 decision on the road at Young Harris College Sunday afternoon. Jesse French led UVA Wise with seven points on five goals and two assists to break the program's individual career point record with 202 career points (124 career goals, 78 career assists), a title previously held by Sydney Steinberg.
Fellow senior Ashley Wells registered her 100th career point in the loss with the attacker's four goals, totaling 101 career points on 76 career goals and 25 career assists. Sophomore Caroline Earnshaw added three goals and an assist while freshmen Sydney Trask (2) and Kaila Lacey (1) each scored in the contest.
Both teams got on the board early in the game before Young Harris (2-3) used a 4-1 run to extend its lead. A goal by French cut the Cavs (2-2) deficit to two goals, 7-5, with a little over 20 minutes to play in the half.
UVA Wise trailed by six goals with 12:43 left as the Cavs went into halftime down by five, 15-10.
Back-to-back goals by Trask and Wells pulled UVA Wise within three, 15-12, less than three minutes into the second half.
Four unanswered goals by the Mountain Lions pushed the margin back to five at the 18-minute mark as the Cavs called a timeout.
Neither team scored for over six minutes before UVA Wise tallied two more goals by Lacey and French, each assisted by Ellie Earnshaw, as the Cavs continued to trail 19-14.
French managed to tack on one more late goal, but Young Harris responded with a free position goal as the Mountain Lions held on for the 20-15 win.
Ellie Earnshaw and French led the Cavs with two assists apiece. UVA Wise posted 33 shots and picked up 24 groundballs. The Cavs notched 13 draw controls to 24 for the Mountain Lions. UVA Wise converted 20-of-22 clears, going 12-for-12 in the second half.
Junior Erin Smith and sophomore Kameryn Darrington led the Cavs with four ground balls apiece. Freshman Ashley Shannon posted a team-high six draw controls while Trask led UVA Wise with a pair of caused turnovers.
Senior goalkeeper Elsa Girardo registered three saves as she fell to 2-1 on the season. Freshman Jordan Edwards finished with five saves on the day.
Head coach Meghan Dennehy's team will open South Atlantic Conference play on the road Friday, March 6, at Lenoir-Rhyne University. First draw is slated for 4 p.m. in Hickory, North Carolina.
