OBERLIN, Ohio—The Allegheny College women's lacrosse team fell to Oberlin College 13-8 in the semifinal round of the 2017 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Championships Wednesday (May 3).
 
The Gators finished the season with a 9-6 overall record. 
 
After back-and-forth play to start, the Yeowomen struck first when Eliza Amber scored off a feed from Natalie Rauchle.  A minute later, the Gators took advantage of a free position attempt as Katie Weiss scored on a bounce shot to the stick side top corner to tie the game.  Amber found the net for the second time as the Yeowmen regained the lead with just under 23 minutes to play in the half.  The Gators were quick to respond as Jessie Thiessen took the ball down and dodged past the defender for the ball.  Not too long after that, Shelby Piper scored on a free position to give the Gators a 3-2 lead. 
 
After a scoreless stretch, the Yeowomen scored on a free position goal to tie the game at three.  After the Gators called a timeout, the Yeowomen took advantage of a turnover in the Gator defensive zone as Sara Phister scored to put Oberlin back on top, 4-3.  Once again, the Gators were quick to answer as Lexi Einsig tied the game up after dodging around the crease.  Oberlin took the lead once more as Jenna Butler scored on an assist from Morgan Darwuala with just under six minutes to play in the opening half.  A minute later, Amber scored her third goal of the game to push the lead to two.  As time expired in the half, Maggie Mullard scored on a pass from Sydney Garvis to give the Yeowomen a 7-4 lead at the break.
 
In the opening half, the Gators owned a 10-1 lead in draw controls, led by Thiessen's six.  Brie Freeman caused three turnovers while Einsig had three groundballs.  All four Allegheny goals came from different players.  Kaelin Clogan made three saves in net.
 
The Yeowmen were successful on nine-of-10 clears while the Gators went five-of-nine.  They also outshot Allegheny 16-11. 
 
Oberlin struck first in the second half as Phister scored her second goal.  For the second time in the game, Piper hit paydirt to cut the Oberlin advantage to 8-5.  Maddie Olson got on the score sheet as she beat the goalie on a low free position shot, cutting the lead to 8-6.  Rauchle increased the lead to three once again on a free position goal. 
  
With under 15 minutes to play, Olson set up Alex Zielinski for her first goal, cutting the lead to 9-7.  However, the Yeowomen were quick to answer with three straight goals. Phister set up Mullard for their tenth goal.  After winning the ensuing draw control, Amber scored once again to make it 11-7.  Oberlin scored the third goal of the series as Rauchle made it 12-7.  The Gators called a timeout to halt the Oberlin run.  About five minutes after the timeout call, Jenna Butler scored to give Oberlin a six goal lead.  Piper quickly responded for the Gators with her third goal, bringing the lead back to five with seven minutes to play.
 
Piper's goal proved to be the last of the game as Oberlin kept their 13-8 lead to move onto the NCAC Championships game.
 
The Gator offense was led by Piper's three goals.  Olson tallied two points on a goal and an assist.  Einsig, Thiessen, Weiss and Zielinski also scored for the Gators.
 
Freeman and Zielinski caused four turnovers apiece.  Zielinski also had four draw controls and three groundballs.  Thiessen led the Gators with four groundballs and eight draw controls.  Olson and Einsig had three groundballs apiece.
 
Clogan finished the game with eight saves.
 
Amber led the Yeowomen with four goals while Rauchle had three goals and an assist.  Alex L'Insalata made 15 saves in net for the win.
 
The shots in the game were nearly even as Oberlin held a 29-26.  Oberlin had the advantage in groundballs (36-21) while the Gators held the edge in draw controls (15-7).