PHILADELPHIA - It was a tale of two halves on Sunday afternoon as the La Salle lacrosse squad put together an impressive rally in the second half, but time ran out too soon in a 14-9 setback to Massachusetts at McCarthy Stadium.

Katelyn Fay drained a game-high five goals, and Alanna Diffendal continued a breakout weekend with a goal and career-high four assists. Diffendal led the team with nine points on four goals and five assists in two games this weekend. Allie Burnett drained a season-best two goals and Rachel Ceplo added one for the Explorers (7-7, 3-3 Atlantic 10).

Gabby Antonelli matched a season high with 15 saves between the pipes.

Erika Eipp led UMass (14-1, 6-0 Atlantic 10) with seven points on two goals and five assists. Katie Ott and Callie Santos scored four goals each for the Minutewomen.

UMass jumped out to a 10-0 lead through the first 16:01 behind three goals each from Ott and Santos.

Fay got the Explorers on the board with back-to-back goals at 9:56 and 9:18 to draw within 10-2 before Ott added one for the Minutewomen to close out first-half scoring with 8:13 to go. Both defenses held for the rest of the half for a 10-2 UMass lead at the break.

The Explorers turned it on after the break, scoring three of the first four goals to get within 12-5. Fay opened scoring in the second half, taking a Diffendal pass and sinking the shot at 1:31 into the half. Ceplo scored just over a minute later, also taking pass from Diffendal for the goal.

Santos got UMass on the board in the second half with a goal at 22:13 to put the visitors up 12-4.

After a scoreless six minutes, Burnett sank a free position shot at 16:14.

UMass got the next two goals at 14:41 and 7:44, but the Explorers closed out the half with four straight goals within the last 4:27. Diffendal took a pass from Allee Ilgenfritz off of a free position attempt at 4:27. Fay then sank a free position shot with 3:46 to go. Diffendal added two more assists, finding both Burnett with 1:47 to go and Fay with 1:11 left for the final 14-9 score.

UMass outshot the Explorers 33-17 and won the draw controls 18-7. The Explorers picked up 25 ground balls to 20 for UMass, and both squads committed 18 turnovers.

The Explorers are back in action on Friday (4/24) with a contest at Saint Joseph's at 4 p.m.