HILTON HEAD, S.C. --
Tori Meyer and
Amanda Smith each scored three goals, but a furious rally by Albright fell short as the Lions lost a 14-11 non-conference game to Merrimack on Saturday.
Albright, which dropped to 4-3 on the season, fell behind 7-0 before rallying to climb to within one goal late in the second period.
Albright also received two goals from
Mariah Cullen, while
Erin Farrell,
Danielle Carey and
Jacqui Montague had one goal each.
Merrimack, which improved to 2-3 on the season, was led by Amber Feminella who scored five goals. Danielle Riley added three goals, while Hunter McCarthy and Meghan Wiseman each had two goals.
Merrimack raced out to a 7-0 lead before Smith got Albright on the board at the 17:26 mark of the first period.
Meyer followed with her first goal of the game at the 16:04 mark to bring Albright to within 7-2, but McCarthy countered for Merrimack to up the lead to 8-2 with 13:48 to play in the first.
Cullen and Montague scored back-to-back goals for the Lions to trim the lead to 8-4 with 12:16 remaining in the first period, but Riley scored for Merrimack at the 6:21 mark to increase the lead to 9-4.
Farrell scored for the Lions to cut the lead to 9-5 at the intermission.
Smith tallied the first goal of the second period to bring Albright to within 9-6 with 28:57 remaining in the contest, but Feminella scored her fourth goal of the game just 46 seconds later to increase the margin to 10-6.
Smith and Meyer then recorded back-to-back goals and Albright was within 10-8 with 23:29 left in the second half.
Wiseman and Feminella answered with a pair of goals for Merrimack, which upped the lead to 12-8 at the 15:38 mark of the second.
Albright responded with a 3-0 run to get within one goal of the lead. Carey, Meyer and Cullen scored for the Lions to cut the lead to 12-11 at the 6:18 mark of the second.
Riley and McCarthy added goals for Merrimack which secured the victory.
Albright returns to action on Monday (March 21) as it hosts Misericordia in non-conference play at 4:30 p.m. in Shirk Stadium.
