EASTON, PA - Trailing 8-4 at the half, the Explorers rallied in the second half to cut the deficit to one goal in the fourth quarter. However, Lafayette held on to beat La Salle women's lacrosse 11-9 on Saturday afternoon. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• La Salle (2-2) got off to a fast start, scoring the first two goals of the game over the opening 9:50.
• Lola Quigley broke the ice at the 12:08 mark, scoring to give La Salle an early 1-0 lead.
• Mackenzie Click doubled the Explorer lead seven minutes later, putting La Salle ahead 2-0. 
• However, the Leopards (1-1) responded by scoring the next four goals– Olivia Cunningham, Kerry Tuorto, and Meghan McLachlan all scored in the closing 3:16 of the first frame, while Clare Culligan scored in the opening minute of the second to give Lafayette a 4-2 lead. 
• Tori Rolon stopped the Lafayette run with her team-high eighth goal of the season to bring La Salle within a goal, 4-3 with 13:18 to play in the second. 
• The Leopard offense heated up again to end the quarter, scoring four of the next five goals to take an 8-4 lead into the half– four different Leopards scored during that run, as seven unique players scored goals for the balanced Lafayette offense in the first half. 
• The Explorers began to mount a comeback attempt in the second half, as Emily Johnston scored twice in the opening seven minutes of the second half to bring the Explorers within two, 8-6. 
• After the Leopards halted the La Salle run with a goal, Rolon and Maddie Dachowski tallied consecutive goals to bring the Explorers within a goal, 9-8. 
• However, Olivia Cunningham scored her third and fourth goals of the game for Lafayette at the 10:16 and 0:42 marks push La Salle out of reach, 11-8. 
• Johnston scored her third of the game in the closing seconds to bring the final score to 11-9. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• The hat trick for Johnston marked the second of the season for the fifth-year senior, as she tallied three goals in La Salle's second game against Iona. 
• Rolon's two goals on Saturday afternoon puts her in a tie with Johnston for the La Salle lead in goals with nine through four games. 
• For the third-consecutive game, Kelli McGroarty and Julia Dellaratta split time equally in net for the Explorers, combining for seven saves while conceding 11 goals. 
• Maddie Henderson led La Salle with five ground balls, while Johnston secured three. 
• As a team, the Explorers held the edge in shots (29-23), shots on goal (23-18), draw controls (13-10), caused turnovers (11-6).

UP NEXT:
The Explorers will stay on the road for a third straight game on Wednesday, March 2 when they take on Lehigh at 3:30 p.m. in Bethlehem, Pa.