Women's Lacrosse Falls Short To No. 14 Cornell, 15-13

BALTIMORE, Md. - Despite redshirt-freshman midfielder Rachel Bowles' impressive offensive performance of four goals, the University at Albany fell to No. 14 Cornell, 15-13, on Sunday, March 17 at St. Paul's School For Girls. Bowles four-goal effort is the third time this season of recording at least four goals or more in one game.

Behind Bowles' four-goal game, senior attack Rachael Burek chipped in with five points, three goals and two assists. Burek's five points on the afternoon was her third straight contest of recording at least five points or more in a single game. Junior defender Kathleen Lennon recorded six of the team's nine draw controls.

A back and forth contest for both teams saw six score ties and four lead changes through the first 30 minutes and had UAlbany (4-3) with the lead, 9-8, at the half.

The Great Danes Bowles tallied a hat trick in the half with 14 minutes left to play. The Big Red's Rachel Moody also recorded a hat trick, including a key goal with just one second left before the end of the half.

With the Great Danes leading 9-8 going into the second half, the defensive end, for both teams, began to lock down after seeing 17 combined goals through 30 minutes. Cornell and UAlbany traded goals for the first 20 minutes of the game until Bowles scored her fourth goal of the game to extend the Great Dane lead to two, 12-10, with 9:58.

Following Bowles' goal, Cornell went on a five-goal run in a stretch of five and a half minutes to grab the game's final lead, 15-12, with 3:47 remaining. The Big Red used five different goal scorers with Moody scoring her fourth goal of the contest.

UAlbany's Nichole Eamer looked to begin a comeback, scoring a goal 11 seconds after Cornel's fifth-consecutive goal to cut the deficit to two, 15-13, but the Great Danes were held scoreless for the final 3:45.
Cornell held advantages in both the draw controls, 20-9, and in ground balls, 12-6.

UAlbany junior goalkeeper Anna Berman recorded eight saves on 23 chances in the loss. Cornell goalkeeper Courtney Gallagher tallied 10 saves on 20 chances in the win.

The Great Danes look ahead to Fresno State on Thursday, March 21 at John Fallon Field. The game will be televised on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel at 3 p.m.