WHEELING, W.Va. – The Cardinals women's lacrosse team fell to Slippery Rock University, 14-10, Tuesday night on the Bishop Schmitt Field.  

"We found ourselves in a familiar position over the last few games, as we were down early," head coach Tim Florence stated. "There was a 15-minute period in the first half where we did not control the ball and Slippery Rock capitalized on it. I'm proud of how our leaders rallied the team to help us claw back in the second half, and even though we didn't score enough or stop enough, there are a lot of positives to take away from this game."

Slippery Rock claimed an early lead, and led by as many as eight scores, 9-1, with just over seven minutes remaining in the first half.

The Cardinals rattled off four straight scores, a pair of goals from Jessie Tufnell and one from Paige Plesich and Elizabeth Hales each, and trailed 9-5 with less than a minute to play.

Slippery Rock scored one more first half goal, and would take a 10-5 upper hand into the second half.

"Late in the first half, we were able to get a three goal flurry, which really helped," Florence added. So, the team was upbeat at the half and knew some of the adjustments we needed to do to make it a game."

The visitors struck first in the second half, but Mary Burns brought the Cardinals back within five scores. Hales assisted Burns at 20:44 and the Slippery Rock lead was 11-6.

Hales netted a pair of goals in the next three minutes, and WJU trailed by only three goals, 11-8. Plesich added her second score of the night at 15:55 and the Cardinals were within two scores.

Slippery Rock claimed the next three goals, and led 14-9 with 3:37 remaining. Burns scored the final goal of the contest, and WJU would fall, 14-10, to Slippery Rock.

Hales led WJU with four scores and four assists. She also collected two groundballs and caused one turnover. Tufnell scored twice on the night and handed out two assists. The senior forced two Slippery Rock turnovers and scooped up one groundball.

Plesich and Burns each scored twice and assisted on one score for the Cardinals. Burns also forced two turnovers. Kori Hickman and Markie Wright each supplied one assist in the game. Hickman also secured two groundballs.

Holly Deckert tallied one shot, picked up one groundball, and forced two turnovers.  Lyndsay Carpenter also forced a pair of Slippery Rock turnovers.

WJU travels to Roberts Wesleyan College on Tuesday, March 29 for a 1 p.m. contest.