MEADVILLE, Pa. – The Allegheny women's lacrosse team battled back-and-forth with Washington and Jefferson Saturday (March 30), but ultimately fell 12-11 in their Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) opener.
 
The Presidents scored the first three goals of the game before the Gators got on the board. Ashley Amato (Westerly, R.I./Westerly) broke up the run off an assist by Emily Herrold (Hampstead, Md./Manchester Valley). After another W&J goal, Herrold assisted Kendall Cox (Silver Spring, Md./Albert Einstein) to cut the lead back to two goals. In the final minutes, W&J scored once more to take a 5-2 lead into the second.
 
The Gators struck first in the second as Herrold collected her third assist, setting up Amato for her second tally. After a President goal, Herrold found the back of the net for the first time, assisted by Cox. The duo then paired up for a third time as Herrold assisted Cox to bring the game within one goal, 6-5. In the final minute of the first half, Lauren Petrarca (Simi Valley, Calif./Royal) tied the game off a helper by Katherine Surdykowski (Chesterfield, N.Y./Northern Burlington County Regional). However, W&J scored with 30 seconds remaining to regain the lead heading into the locker room.

Amato completed her hat trick early in the third, assisted by Ema Caragein (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton La Salle), as the game became knotted up once again. W&J would go on to score the following three goals to take a 10-7 lead into the fourth.
 
For the third straight quarter, the Gators struck first as Petrarca scored off a feed from Caragein. The teams continued to trade goals as Amato scored her fourth, assisted by Petrarca, and Surdykowski converted a free-position attempt as the deficit remained at two goals.
 
With just under 90 seconds to play, the Gators took advantage of a player-up opportunity as Amato struck for the fifth time, assisted by Surdykowski, to bring the game within one goal. However, the Presidents won the ensuing draw control and held possession to seal the win.
 
Inside the Box

• Amato led the offense with a career-high five goals while also collecting a pair of groundballs.
• Herrold also had a five point game with a goal and a career-high four assists.
• Cox and Pertrarca had a pair of goals and an assist each.
• Surdykowski had two assists and a goal while also tallying four caused turnovers and three groundballs.
• Caragein had a pair of assists.
• Amelia Henderson (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) had a career-high five caused turnovers to lead the team. She also shared the team-high with three groundballs.
• Sybi Gerhart (Denver, Pa./Cocalico) caused a pair of turnovers. 

News and Notes

• The Gators are now 11-5 all-time against W&J.
• Amato scored a career-high five goals.
• Herrold had a career-high four assists.
• Henderson had a career-high five caused turnovers.

Up Next
The Gators are on the road Wednesday (April 3) when they take a short trip to Thiel for a PAC contest.