CHESTER, Pa. – The Albright women's lacrosse fought hard to the end but was outlasted 6-5 at Widener in MAC Commonwealth action on Wednesday evening.
 
With the loss, the Lions fall to 0-4 in conference and 2-11 overall. Meanwhile, the Pride improve to 3-1 in conference and 8-5 overall.
 
Senior Ashleigh Tortorice led the Lions with two goals behind three shots on the evening. Senior Maddie Taylor grabbed a game-high four ground balls while Kyra Lycett tallied three draw controls and three ground balls.
 
It was a back-and forth start to the game as both teams struggled to find the back of the net. Widener finally broke through at the 7:13-mark of the first with the opening goal of the game to take an early lead. Sophomore Chloe Fornoff closed out the opening frame with an unassisted goal with just 15 seconds remaining to tie the game at one.
 
The Pride pulled back in front at the 8:40-mark of the second quarter with a free-position goal. Albright responded at the 3:47-mark as Lycett tied the game up at two behind a feed from senior Lauren China. Widener closed out the first half with two quick scores less than 30 second apart to grasp a 4-2 advantage entering the break.
 
Widener found the back of the net coming out of the half to extend their lead to three. Sophomore Kayte Moist snapped the Pride's run with a free-position goal at the 9:24-mark to get the Lions back with two. Albright had the opportunity to tie the game back up as they tallied two more shots on goal in the third, but Widener's Maddie Madve stood tall in net to keep the Pride in front 5-3 entering the final frame.
 
The Pride extended their advantage to three once again as they found the back of the net at the 9:30-mark of the fourth. Medve made two more big saves for the Pride who held onto their lead. Tortorice's two goals came at the most crucial time for the Lions as she tucked two shots past Medve into the back of the net less than a minute apart to get Albright within one with just 4:44 remaining. First-year goalkeeper Caelainn Morrison then made two big saves of her own off free-position shots to keep the Lions within reach with less than two minutes left to play. Patrick earned a free-position shot with 41 seconds left, but Medve made one final key save to solidify the Pride's 6-5 MAC Commonwealth victory.
 
Despite the loss, Albright held a sizable 28-15 shot advantage over Widener. The Lions won the battle for ground balls 14-12 and forced the Pride into their second-most turnovers on the season at 23. The battle in the draw circle was almost split with 8-7 in favor of the Pride. Morrison receives the loss for Albright despite completing six saves in 60 minutes of action. Medve earns the win for Widener with a big 17 saves in the full amount of action.
 
Albright will return to Shirk Stadium on Wednesday, April 20^th at 4 p.m. as they host Eastern in MAC Commonwealth play.