CLINTON, S.C. - Catherine Ellis (Charlotte, N.C.) scored four goals as part of an offensive explosion for the Presbyterian College women's lacrosse team on Sunday, but the visiting Cincinnati Bearcats took home a close win, 20-16.
PC moves to 0-2 while Cincinnati improves to 2-1.
Samantha MacCurdy (Vero Beach, Fla.) scored the first three goals of her career on Sunday for her first career hat trick as well. Kirstin Stenoien (Houston, Texas), Katie Prisco (West Babylon, N.Y.) and Lauren Lefeber (Waxhaw, N.C.) also each netted a pair for the Blue Hose.
Bonnie Corrigan (Yorktown, S.C.) and Jena Ready (Charlotte, N.C) each scored a career-first goal and Rachel Deighan (Wooster, Ohio) found the net for her first of the season.
Freshman Samantha Arey (New Albany, Ohio) made her first collegiate start in net and made nine saves on the day.
PC collected 18 ground balls to Cincinnati's 17, but the Bearcats won the draw control battle, 26-12.
Cincinnati's Katie Kiriazoglou led all scorers with six goals and two assists.
The Blue Hose took a 1-0 lead on a Lefeber goal 37 seconds after the opening draw. Two Bearcats goals later, Deighan potted a shot from in close off of a feed from Ready to pull PC back even.
PC battled with the visitors as each side swapped goals to make the score 6-6 with 7:02 left in the first half. From there, Cincinnati scored three straight goals in a span of 56 seconds to take a 9-6 lead.
MacCurdy notched her second of the day from an Ellis assist to put PC's seventh goal on the board, but Cincinnati's Megan Bell found the net with five seconds left to give Cincinnati a 10-7 lead heading into the halftime break.
PC narrowed the gap to just one thanks to opening goals from Ready and Ellis. Kelsey Rupsch (Libertyville, Ill.) picked up her first point of the season on an assist to Ellis.
Cincinnati took one back but Corrigan potted a free position shot to get PC back to a one-goal deficit.
The Bearcats scored four of the game's next five goals, but the Blue Hose then scored four of the next five to trail by one with 11:49 remaining. Stenoien, MacCurdy, Ellis and Prisco all slipped shots past Cincinnati Jennifer Walsh to put PC on the board.
Unfortunately for the Blue Hose, four straight Bearcats goals--including three straight from Kiriazoglou--put PC in a five-goal hole. Ellis scored her fourth with 1:36 to go but it would prove too little, too late as Cincinnati left with the win.
PC hosts Regis (Colo.) on Friday in its next game. The opening draw is slated for 3:30 p.m.
