GEORGETOWN, Texas – The Southwestern University Pirates women's lacrosse team struggled with time of possession in a 15-10 loss to the Birmingham-Southern College (BSC) Panthers.
Birmingham-Southern's Katie Gleeson controlled the game, winning 19 of the 27 draw controls by getting the ball to teammate Mari Clair Harmon; Gleeson was off the field for most of the Pirates' won draw controls. She also led the team with nine points, scoring a game-high seven goals and dishing out two assists.
The 5-foot-9 senior used her size to establish position against the Pirate defense and protect the ball against swarming defenders while surveying the field for passing and attack opportunities.
Southwestern struggled to clear the ball against an aggressive BSC defense that sent two defenders at the ball, deflecting passes at the point of attack and forcing long, looping passes vulnerable to being picked off, forcing 28 turnovers.
The tactics kept the Pirate offense off-balance and out of the hands of leading point-getter Hayley Donnelly early, keeping her out of the box score until the 13:12 mark of the first half, bringing the Pirates back to within one at 4-3.
Almost two minutes later, Donnelly found Johnee Wolter to tie the game.
The Pirates and Panthers then exchanged goals, with BSC getting an unassisted goal by Kendal Vick and Raven Garcia finding Donnelly for her second goal of the game to tie it at 5-5.
Birmingham pulled away at the end of the first half, getting three consecutive goals with two coming from Gleeson before Donnelly scored her third goal on an assist from Grace Maynard for an 8-6 halftime deficit.
The Pirates face-guarded Gleeson for much of the second half but BSC adapted, scoring seven of the 11 goals to keep the Pirates at bay.
Donnelly led the Pirates with six points, scoring four goals on eight shots with two assists. Haley Hurt had three goals and an assists for Southwestern and Garcia had two assists. Mckenna Zinke finished with 15 saves.
With the loss, the Pirates drop to 5-3 on the season. Southwestern will host Williamette on Tuesday, March 26 at 4:00 p.m.