ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley women's lacrosse team gave University of Scranton a battle in a 16-6 defeat on Wednesday afternoon in the home opener on Arnold Field.
 
Scranton, who is receiving votes in the IWLCA Preseason Poll and is coming off a victory at No. 15 Messiah University this weekend, outscored the Dutchmen 9-2 in the first half. Erin Zieber gave LVC a 1-0 lead four minutes into the game as she fired a bullet into the back of the net. The Royals responded a minute late to even the score up at one. Scranton would increase their lead to 5-1 with four goals over the final eight minutes of the quarter. The go-ahead goal was scored with 7:19 left in the period before the Royals added goals at 4:40, 3:41, and then with eight seconds left.
 
The scoring streak continued into the second as the Royals added two more goals in the first five minutes to take a 7-1 lead. Bethany Cohee stopped the run with a fantastic goal, and she eluded a defender and sent the ball into the back of the net with 10 minutes to go. The Dutchmen kept the Royals off the board with a strong defensive effort until there was a little over four minutes to go in the half. Scranton then beat the buzzer to take a 9-2 lead into the break.
 
LVC came out of the break strong as Emily Beard won the draw control and then scored less than a minute into the period off a great pass from Alyssa Wene. Scranton responded with three goals in the next three minutes to go up by nine. The Dutchmen countered with three straight goals of their own in a span of two minutes. Zieber started the run with a free-position goal. The graduate student won the draw and LVC scored again nearly 40 seconds later as Beard scored her second goal of the game off a feed from Elizabeth Morgan. Beard won the next draw and nearly a minute later Anna Lougee found the back of the net to cut the lead to 12-6.
 
Scranton scored twice in the final five minutes of the quarter to take an eight-goal lead into the final 15 minutes of play. The Dutchmen battled valiantly in the fourth quarter to cut into the Royals lead but were unable to score while Scranton was able to get goals with 12:15 and 8:06 left in the game to set the final score.
 
Inside the Box

• Zieber scored her first two goals of the year on four shots. She won three draw controls and scored LVC's first free-position goal of the year.
• Beard had another two-goal game to start the year. The senior took seven shots, including six on goal, won four draws, caused two turnovers, and picked up three groundballs.
• Lougee scored a goal on four shots for her third goal of the year.
• Cohee scored her first goal of the year and fourth of her career.
• Morgan recorded an assist for the second consecutive game to begin her career.
• Wene also had an assist, her first of the season.
• Hayley Cowles caused two turnovers and picked up three groundballs. Hana Neff also led the defensive effort with three groundballs and a caused turnover.

Up Next
The Dutchmen will head up to Scranton next Tuesday where they will face Marywood University for a 4 p.m. non-conference game.

Stay Connected
Be sure to follow @lvcathletics on Instagram, X, and Facebook for the most in-depth coverage of LVC Athletics.