Women’s lacrosse team loses to Augsburg, 14-11

OLIVET, Mich. – A valiant second-half comeback fell short for the Olivet College women's lacrosse team, as Augsburg (Minn.) College hung on to beat the Comets, 14-11, this afternoon at the Cutler Athletic Complex in Olivet.

Junior Taylor Guarnaccia (East Lansing/Haslett) scored only 30 seconds off the opening draw to put Olivet ahead 1-0. The Auggies came back with four straight goals in a span of 92 seconds to go up 4-1 with 26:02 left in the opening half.

After Guarnaccia scored a free-position goal, Augsburg answered with three consecutive goals to take a 7-2 lead. Junior Mackenzie Inman (Union City) tallied an unassisted goal before the Auggies came back with another 3-0 scoring run to gain a 10-3 halftime lead.

Sophomore Devin Blue (Traverse City/Central) scored her first goal of the season at the 27:01 mark of the second half. The teams then traded five free-position goals, with Guarnaccia tallying two and Inman one for the Comets, to make the 12-7 with 14 minutes remaining in the game.

Junior Geri Merrell (Battle Creek/Lakeview) found the back of the net off a feed from Inman to trim Olivet's deficit down to four, 12-8. Junior Brittany Hayes (Battle Creek/Lakeview) scored her first two goals of the season sandwiched around two Auggie goals to keep the deficit at four, 14-10. Inman had an unassisted tally with 15 seconds left to create the final score.

For the game, Olivet had 22 shots to 28 for Augsburg. Guarnaccia finished with a team-leading four goals on seven shots. Inman also had four points, three goals and one assist. Hayes scored twice, while Blue and Merrell each had one goal. Between the pipes, freshman Xavier Vance (West Bloomfield) recorded 10 saves.

The Comets will be back in action Sunday afternoon when they host Baldwin Wallace (Ohio) University at noon.