GWYNEDD VALLEY, Pa. - The Neumann University women's lacrosse team had its season come to an end on Saturday evening, falling by a score of 13-9 to host Gwynedd Mercy University in the opening round of the Atlantic East playoffs.
Brylin Adams led the way offensively for the Knights with three goals on the night.
Jay Murray and
Keri Mallon each picked up a pair of tallies for the Knights, while
Ally Bee and
Lindsey Fagan added single markers.
Catriona Corrigan made seven saves in goal in the loss.
After leading for most of the first matchup between the two teams, Neumann opened Saturday's playoff matchup the same way, taking an early 2-0 lead in the game's first 11 minutes. Fagan started the scoring with a free position tally at 24:53, followed by another free position goal from Adams five minutes later. Gwynedd Mercy found its stride midway through the half though, fighting back with four of the next five goals of the contest to take its first lead of the game at 4-3 with 4:23 left to play in the first frame. Mallon was the lone goal scorer for the Knights during the Griffin run, finding the back of the net off a feed from freshman
Maggie Blemings. Adams second free position goal of the half with 2:47 remaining leveled the game at four apiece, but the hosts would cap off the period with a fifth goal with just a minute left to take a tight 5-4 lead into the halftime break.
The Griffins broke the game wide open to start the second stanza, scoring five unanswered goals in the first 11:08 of the period to take a commanding 10-4 lead. Undeterred by the deficit though, the resilient Knights battled back with a fury. Chipping away at the Gwynedd Mercy lead one goal at a time, Neumann got right back into the contest with a 5-0 run of its own. Murray and Bee each beat the Griffin goalie on free position shots a minute apart midway through the period to make it 10-6 with 16:23 left to go in the game. Murray then added her second marker of the night two minutes later, followed up by goals from Mallon and Adams to complete the run with the score at 10-9 with 6:47 remaining. Unfortunately for the visitors, the hill was just a bit too tall to climb as that was as close as they would get the rest of the way. The Griffins closed the contest with three straight goals to seal the 13-9 win and eliminate the Knights from the playoffs.
Neumann finishes its season with a record of 3-5. The young Knights will look to build on their playoff experience with the hopes of advancing further in the conference playoffs next season.
