Despite a furious comeback attempt in the closing moments of the game the Lee women's lacrosse to came up just short falling to the University of Montevallo on a sun-filled Wednesday afternoon at the South Quad Field.
Trailing 13-10 with 2:32 left the Lady Flames made things interesting. After a foolish turnover by the Falcons freshman Dariana Blanton charged down the field a scored unassisted to pull Lee within two with 1:11 remaining.
The Lady Flames would win the all-important ensuing draw control to set up Becca Broadwick's fourth goal of the game and 23
rd of the season. Broadwick cut towards the net and was received a well-timed pass from Blanton to connect on the score with 36 seconds remaining.
Lee would gain yet another draw control to have a shot to tie in the waning seconds. Coach Derrel Martin called a timeout to set up the offense but the Falcons came away with a game-sealing steal to end the comeback attempt.
Broadwick paced the Lee offensive with four goals while Blanton added two goals and dished off four assists.
"I think we came out ready to hustle. I keep saying about this team is we always fight and I love the effort we showed,'' said Martin. "We definitely got some things clicking in the second half and we were able to wear them down a little bit. We're beat up on the defensive end but Abby played well in goal and made some big saves for us. Broadwick and Blanton receive the ball well and feed the ball well and have a pretty good Lacrosse sense. They know what to do with the ball when the get it."
Sanders recorded 11 saves in net for the Lady Flames and faced 30 shots. Irfana Ahmed earned the win in goal for Montevallo and had 15 saves, several coming in the final 10 minutes to hold off an aggressive Lee attack.
Anja Kuys led the Falcons with a game-high five goals. Arianna Endelmann and Meghan Shea added three each.
Coach Martin's club fired back into the contest at the end of the first half. Trailing 8-3 Lee rattled off three goals in the final minute to go into the locker room down just two. Broadwick scored off a pass from Blanton to start the rally. Blanton would score with 37 seconds left before Broadwick connected again just before the horn. Shayna Ryan would make it 4-0 run as she scored 3:12 into the second half.
The Lady Flames fall to 3-6 overall and 0-2 in the GSC. Montevallo improves 4-3 and an even 1-1 in league play.
Lee will get back to work next Wednesday as it welcomes GSC perennial power Young Harris College to town. First draw is slated for 3 p.m.
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