The Lourdes women's lacrosse team fell in a hard-fought battle on Wednesday afternoon in a neutral site affair against No. 3-ranked Cumberlands (Ky.).
 
"Even though the score didn't necessarily reflect it, I'm super proud of this group," stated head coach Alyssa Shaver following the contest. "That was a really good team we played today, but we played them very tough. It was encouraging to see a lot of the things we work on in practice showing on the field. This is a great learning experience for our girls and we are going to continue to move forward and keep working."
 
Lourdes put itself ahead of the Patriots (8-1 overall) early on in the contest as Ashley Hunt (Cape May, N.J./Lower Cape May) found Tiara Reed (Maumee, Ohio/Anthony Wayne) for the first goal of the contest just over a minute and half into the game.
 
Cumberlands would take control from there, using a 4-0 run to gain a 4-1 lead with 21:14 left in the first half.
 
Claire Austin (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) stopped the Patriot run as she found the back of the net and pulled Lourdes within 4-2 with 17:22 left in the half.
 
After Cumberlands answered with a goal, Brandy Lowery (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg) scored to keep Lourdes within 5-3 in the first stanza. Cumberlands was able to close the half out on a 10-0 run to push its lead to 15-3.
 
Brea Holland (Lexington, Ky./Bryan Station), Brianna Nantz (Brighton, Mich./Brighton), and Hannah Merrick (South Lyon, Mich./East) each scored second half goals for the Gray Wolves, but the Patriots held on to win 23-6.
 
Reed led the way for Lourdes, picking up four grounds balls, causing four turnovers and winning six draw controls.
 
Jacque Pappadakes (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River) went the distance in the goal for Lourdes, recording 13 saves in the loss.
 
The Gray Wolves will remain in Columbia, South Carolina on Friday as they take on Columbia (S.C.) at a 3 p.m. start time.