ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. – The 16th-ranked Washington and Lee women's lacrosse team rallied in the second half, but fell to St. Mary's (Md.), 8-7, on Wednesday afternoon at Seahawk Stadium.

With the score tied 2-2 in the first half, senior midfielder Tori Poffenberger ignited a 4-0 run for St. Mary's (2-0) when she scored off of an assist from senior midfielder Shelby Newman with 14:54 remaining in the stanza. Newman went on to score twice during the spurt, along with a goal from junior attacker Abbey Harrison. The Seahawks took a 6-2 advantage into intermission. 

W&L (0-2) started its comeback in the second half when junior attacker Lauren Procaccino (Manhasset, N.Y. / Manhasset) found the back of the net off of a free position shot at the 23:31 mark. First-year midfielder Brianna Hayes (Commack, N.Y. / St. Anthony's) scored 6:37 later to make the score 6-4.

Sophomore attacker Jess Castelo (Red Bank, N.J. / Lawrenceville School) cut the lead to one with 15:34 remaining in the second stanza and then Procaccino capped a 4-0 run when she tallied the equalizer off of a free position at the 12:27 mark (6-6).

Neither team scored for the next 7:16 of the contest until Newman found Poffenberger to take the lead back for St. Mary's (7-6). Castelo scored again at the 3:33 mark to knot the game at 7-7, but senior attacker Meg Gesner notched the game-winner with 1:13 remaining on the clock to reach the final margin of 8-7.

St. Mary's held an edge in shots, 14-13, and in ground balls, 15-14.

Procaccino, Castelo and first-year attacker Maddy Graves (Cos Cob, Conn. / Greenwich) all scored two goals each for W&L, with Procaccino also dishing out one assist and picking up three ground balls. Sophomore keeper Hannah Wiltshire (Wilton, Conn. / Wilton) saw 21:52 of action in goal for the Blue and White and made two saves, while first-year Ellie Aburn (Towson, Md. / Notre Dame Preparatory) played the remaining 38:08 and stopped two shots.

Newman led the Seahawks with three goals and two assists. Senior Kayla Dunn played the entire game in goal for St. Mary's and finished with one save.

The Generals return to the field on Saturday, when they travel to No. 3 Franklin & Marshall for a 1:00 pm contest.

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