CHESTER, Pa. (Apr. 13, 2016) – Senior Melissa Sailey (Swedesboro, N.J.) registered her third hat trick of the season, but it wasn't enough, as the Widener University women's lacrosse team fell to Lebanon Valley by a 13-8 decision at Edith R. Dixon Field on Wednesday evening.
 
The first half was competitive for the opening 10 minutes with two ties and two lead changes. But after senior Morgan Scott (Cinnaminson, N.J.) found Sailey for her first of three markers to put the Pride ahead by a 2-1 score, the Dutchwomen responded with four unanswered goals in less than 10 minutes to start taking control. Emma Jones then cashed in on a free position opportunity with 16 seconds remaining to give the visitors a 6-3 advantage at the break.
 
Lebanon Valley (7-4, MAC Commonwealth 3-0) stormed out of the gates to begin the second half to start pulling away. Tori Kuntz set the tone and sparked a four-goal outburst by winning the opening draw and evading several Widener defenders before finding the back of the net just 11 seconds into the frame. Jones and Sam Boyce then added free position goals just 47 seconds apart to make it 10-3 with 21:09 remaining in regulation.
 
Widener, however, did not give up and began chipping away at the deficit. The Pride got three straight tallies from freshman Kelly Lynch (Springfield, Pa.), Sailey and senior Meghan Garvey (Avondale, Pa.) to trim the Dutchwomen lead down to five, but the seven-goal margin from earlier in the frame would eventually prove to be too much to overcome.
 
Kuntz and Jones finished with four goals apiece to lead the way for Lebanon Valley, which only had a slim 24-23 advantage in total shots and won the ground game by a count of 19-18. Julia Brewer caused three turnovers on defense, while goalkeeper Shelby Morris came away with 11 saves.
 
Sailey paced Widener by finding the back of the net on all three of her shot attempts. Junior Jamie Parent (Millville, N.J.) and Garvey combined to win nine draw controls, and junior Grace Morales (East Norwich, N.Y.) stopped eight shots between the pipes.
 
Widener (5-6, MAC Commonwealth 2-2) will next face a challenging test when it welcomes 19th-ranked Messiah to Edith R. Dixon Field on Saturday, Apr. 16 at 1:00 p.m.