READING, Pa. – The Albright Lions women's lacrosse team was unable to overcome an overpowering second half from Lebanon Valley as they fell 17-12 to the Dutchmen on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon at Shirk Stadium.
 
With the loss, the Lions see their program-record 10 game winning streak snapped as they fall to 11-3 overall and 5-1 in MAC Commonwealth play. However despite the loss, the Lions clinched a berth in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament for the fifth-straight season with losses by Alvernia and Arcadia this afternoon. Meanwhile, the Dutchmen improve to 7-6 overall and 4-1 in MAC Commonwealth play. Prior to the game, the Lions honored their four senior players as a part of senior day ceremonies.
 
The Dutchmen came out scorching hot to begin the game as they scored the first three goals of the game to go up 3-0 at the 23:16-mark. Albright was limited to just one shot during that span and lost three of the first four draw controls. The Lions began chipping away as freshman Ashleigh Tortorice notched the Lions first goal of the game at the 22:43-mark to make it 3-1. The goal began a run of four-straight goals for the Lions as they roared back to take a 4-3 lead at the 16:07-mark. Junior Kelly Baumann hammered home the second goal after senior Sophie Bass found her wide open in a lane to the net. Albright then scored the next two goals on free position shots as freshman Lauren China and Bass tallied the goals. Following a Dutchmen goal to tie the game at four, the Lions went on another four-goal run to take an 8-4 lead at the 7:56-mark. Freshman Maddie Taylor broke the initial tie with an unassisted goal at the 11:50-mark, and would be followed by classmate Abbie Moist at the 10:55-mark. China then found the back of the net again to make it 7-4 before Moist struck again to complete the run. The run knocked All-MAC First Team goalkeeper Leah Franklin out of the game as she was replaced by Hannah Oliveras. The Dutchmen netted one last goal in the first half to make it an 8-5 game, and the score would stay the same behind a couple of big saves from Oliveras.
 
Lebanon Valley struck first to begin the second half as they made it an 8-6 game just 1:03 in, but Baumann quickly responded to bring the score back to 9-6 at the 27:22-mark. The Dutchmen then began their second half dominance by going on a five-goal run to take an 11-9 lead at the 17:35-mark. Lebanon Valley used strong defense and four consecutive draw control wins to go on the run as the Lions were held without a shot for a span of 9:07. Moist would finally break up the Dutchmen run with her season-high third goal of the game to make it an 11-10 game at the 15:06-mark. However, the Dutchmen came back yet again with back-to-back goals to go up 13-10 at the 11:37-mark. China then scored her third of the game at the 11:00-mark to make it 13-11, but the Dutchmen again responded with four-straight goals to take a commanding 17-11 lead at the 3:16-mark. China would tally the Lions final goal of the game with 30 seconds left in the contest.
 
The Dutchmen held a 29-25 shot advantage for the game after outshooting the Lions 18-6 in the second half. Lebanon Valley also held a 22-19 shots on goal advantage after holding a 15-5 advantage in the second half. Each team tallied 21 ground balls, while the Dutchmen completely dominated the draw controls by winning 22 of the 31 for the game. China led the Lions with four goals, while Baumann tallied five points behind two goals and three assists. Moist tallied three goals and Bass posted four points behind one goal and three assists. Sophomore goalkeeper Terae Mason suffered the loss after making five saves in the full 60 minutes. Oliveras earned the win after making four saves in the final 37:26, while allowing just four goals.
 
The Lions will return to action on Wednesday, April 17^th as they will host MAC Commonwealth-leading Stevenson at 6 p.m.