CLEARWATER, Fla. – The Albright Lions women's lacrosse team earned a 12-8 win over Southern Maine in Clearwater, Florida on Wednesday morning in non-conference action.
 
With the win, the Lions improve to 6-2 overall as they picked up their fifth-straight win. Meanwhile, the Huskies of the Little East Conference fall to 1-3 on the season. This will be the lone game that the Lions will be playing in during their spring break trip in Florida.
 
Both teams started slowly offensively as turnovers plagued each side in the first few minutes. It was the Huskies that broke the ice at the 26:18-mark of the first half to take a 1-0 lead. Southern Maine would strike again at the 22:29-mark to make it 2-0 after a failed Lions clear. Albright would get on the board just 54 seconds later after senior Sophie bass found junior Kelly Baumann driving for the net to make it a 2-1 game. The Lions then tied the game at the 19:50-mark on a free positon shot goal from freshman Maddie Taylor. Both teams went into a scoring drought as the game stayed tied at two past the midway point of the first half. Freshman Abbie Moist would end the drought with her first goal of the game at the 8:15-mark of the first half following a pass from Baumann. Albright made it 4-2 at the 3:03-mark of the first half on a free position shot goal from Baumann, and eventually 5-2 on another free position shot goal with 42 seconds left in the half from freshman Lauren China.
 
Bass wasted little time to score in the second half as she won the initial draw control and charged down the field to make it 6-2 at the 29:48-mark. Freshman Ashleigh Tortorice would then extend the Lions lead to 7-2 following a goal off a rebound from a free position shot attempt that was saved. Following a scoreless 10-minute stretch, the Huskies tallied back-to-back free position shot goals in a span of 29 seconds to cut the Lions advantage down to 7-4. Tortorice would end the quick burst with her second goal of the game at the 17:24-mark of the second half. Southern Maine came back again with another goal to make it 8-5 at the 14:18-mark, but the Lions maintained by scoring two goals within 47 seconds to go up 10-5 at the 12:06-mark. Bass tallied the first goal before Baumann scored on a tough angle from the left side of the net. The Huskies then made one last charge by scoring back-to-back goals and making it 10-7 with 9:36 left in the second half. Baumann recorded her final goal of the game at the 8:14-mark to silence any last threat from the Huskies, and Bass concluded the scoring with a free position shot goal with just 1:12 left in the game.
 
The Lions held a slight 23-22 advantage in shots and a 21-20 margin in shots on goal for the contest. Albright also held a 23-22 advantage in ground balls, while the Huskies held a 13-9 advantage in draw control wins. Baumann led the Lions with six points behind four goals and two assists, while Bass followed with five points behind three goals and two assists. Freshman Ashleigh Tortorice added two goals in the win, while three other Lion players tallied one goal each.  Sophomore goalkeeper Terae Mason earned the win after making 12 saves in net.
 
Albright will return to action on Wednesday, March 27^th as they will begin MAC Commonwealth play by traveling to Arcadia for a 4 p.m. start.