ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Albright Lions women's lacrosse team suffered a tough 11-9 loss to Lebanon Valley in the semifinals of the MAC Commonwealth Tournament on Wednesday night in a wild back and forth contest.
 
With the loss, the Lions conclude the 2018 season with an 11-7 record which ties the program record single season wins that was set in 2016. Meanwhile, the Dutchmen improve to 13-4 overall and advance to their first MAC Commonwealth championship game Saturday at top-seeded Messiah.
 
The game began as a defensive struggle for the first few minutes of the game before senior Sydney Nankervis opened the scoring with a goal at the 25:04-mark to give the Lions an early 1-0 lead. The Dutchmen responded back at the 22:53-mark to tie the game at one before the game went into a scoreless drought of 11:09. Lebanon Valley took its first lead of the game on a free position shot at the 11:42-mark, and would extend it to 3-1 at the 8:15-mark on another free position shot. Senior Corinne Donohue quickly countered with a goal just 21 seconds later after the Lions got the ball on a man-up situation. With the offenses finally heating up, the Dutchmen made it a two-goal game again with a goal at the 5:28-mark. The Lions then cut the lead back to one at 4-3 with a goal from sophomore Devon Mela after sophomore Bridgett Connolly created a turnover in the Dutchmen zone. Lebanon Valley added one last goal with 1:50 left in the first half to take a 5-3 lead, a lead that the Lions held on Saturday at halftime in the last meeting.
 
The second half turned into a wild affair as the game saw four ties and four lead changes in the final 30 minutes. Sophomore Kelly Baumann cut the lead back to one at 5-4 at the 27:32-mark off a free position shot before the Dutchmen tallied one of their own just under two minutes later to make it 6-4. Junior Sophie Bass then began a wild stretch of play at the 20:49-mark with her first goal of the game to make it 6-5. Bass then won the ensuing draw control to allow freshman Tristan Konen to tie the game at six after Donohue found her in front of the net. Senior Casey Stocker would then give the Lions their first lead of the game at the 19:22-mark with Albright's third goal in a span of 1:29. The Dutchmen wasted little time before tying the game up at seven just 1:12 later, and promptly taking the lead back at the 17:24-mark on a man-up situation. Mela would score her second goal of the game at the 11:23-mark to tie the game at eight before the Dutchmen again took the lead back with a goal at the 7:20-mark. Baumann then tied the game up at nine with her second goal of the game after ripping the ball from a Dutchmen players stick at the 5:04-mark. Unfortunately for the Lions, that would be their final goal of the game as the Dutchmen tallied two goals within the span of 48 seconds to take the lead for good at 11-9.
 
As they did on Saturday, the Lions held the overall shot advantage at 32-25, but the Dutchmen held a 21-18 advantage for shots on goal. The Lions also held an 18-14 advantage in ground balls, while the Dutchmen held a sizable 15-5 advantage in draw control wins. Mela and Baumann each led the Lions with two goals, while Donohue tallied two points on a goal and an assist. Four different Lions tallied one goal with Stocker and Nankervis each grabbing goals in their final game. Freshman goalkeeper Terae Mason was saddled with the loss after making 10 saves in goal to finish off a record breaking season. Dutchmen goalkeeper Leah Franklin made nine saves in the win, while Emma Jones carried Lebanon Valley with six goals.