MEADVILLE, Pa. -- The Allegheny College women's lacrosse team earned a 23-10 win over Bethany College in a must-win Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) contest in Saturday's home finale at the Robertson Athletic Complex. 

Not only did the Gators (5-11, 4-5 PAC) celebrate Senior Day, but Allegheny had plenty more to celebrate after clinching the sixth and final spot in next week's PAC Championship Tournament. The Gators will travel to third-seeded Chatham University for a quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday, April 29.

Although the final score was lopsided in Allegheny's favor, the first half against the Bison painted a drastically different picture. Bethany scored the game's first goal and used a 3-0 run in the second quarter to jump ahead 7-5. The visitors last led by one, 8-7, with 3:21 left in the second quarter following an extra-woman goal from Abbie Carpenter.

The Gators entered the locker room riding a three-goal run, which included two scores from Erin Lowthert (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg Area) in the last 10 seconds of the half. Despite the 10-8 advantage, the momentum didn't swing completely into AC's favor until the second half. Allegheny began the third quarter with six in a row, and with each goal, the Gators turned the intensity up to another level. Even after Carpenter broke Bethany's 16-minute scoring drought at the 2:19 mark, Lowthert and Ema Caragein (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton LaSalle) quickly responded and combined for three goals in the final minute of the third quarter.

In the closing minutes of the fourth quarter, Lauren Petrarca (Simi Valley, Calif./Royal) reached a career milestone. Not only did she tie the single-game record for goals with her ninth of the afternoon, but the senior midfielder logged the 200th goal of her Allegheny career. Petrarca joins Jensen Paterson '11 (221) and Kelsey Rodgers '15 (204) as the only players in program history to reach 200 goals.

Inside the Box Score

• The first half featured seven ties, as the two teams went back and forth in a closely-contested game.
• After Bethany took an 8-7 lead with 3:21 to go in the second quarter, the Gators outscored the Bison 16-2.
• Petrarca had a busy day in all areas of the field with nine goals and two assists for 11 points in addition to 18 draw controls, eight caused turnovers, and four ground balls.
• Caragein scored three times with a team-high five assists for eight points.
• Lowthert (5g-1a) and Ava Best (Butler, Pa./Butler) (4g-2a) both had six points.
• Kendall Cox (Silver Spring, Md./Albert Einstein) and Caroline Smith (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty) had matching point totals with one goal and two assists.
• Defender Amelia Henderson (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) led all Gators with six ground balls.
• Goalies Macy Simons (Catonsville, Md./Western Tech) and Ella Ashton (Landisville, Pa./Hempfield) each had three saves in one half of action.
• Carpenter had a team-high five points (3g-2a) for the Bison.

News and Notes

• Before Saturday's contest, the Gators honored its seniors Caragein and Petrarca and junior Simons, who is graduating a semester early in December.
• Allegheny improved to 3-0 against Bethany since joining the PAC and has outscored the Bison 63-17 in those three matchups.
• Petrarca finished the regular season sixth all-time in points (235) and third in goals (200).
• Petrarca tied a single-game record for goals with nine, and her 18 draw controls are the most by a Gator in at least two decades.
• Caragein's eight points were a single-game career-high for the senior attacker.
• Lowthert tied her previous single-game best with her second consecutive six-point outing.

Up Next
Allegheny will travel to Pittsburgh to face third-seeded Chatham University in the PAC tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday, April 29.