BALTIMORE - The UMBC women's lacrosse team (4-11) pushed 13th-ranked Yale (10-4) to the limit Sunday afternoon, but the Retrievers' upset bid fell short, as the visiting Bulldogs came away with a 12-9 victory at UMBC Stadium.
UMBC senior attack Ali Levendusky tallied four goals in the game, the third her 50th of the season. She became just the fourth player in UMBC history to reach the half-century mark and first since Debbie Krastel in 1999, and her 51 goals are tied for the third-highest single-season total ever by a Retriever. Levendusky could break Heather Kormanik's school record of 54 goals (1998) in the season finale against Boston University on Saturday.
Yale scored nearly right out of the gates, as attack Jessica Sturgill found the back of the net just 1:17 into action, and the Bulldogs tallied four of the first five goals of the game to hold a 4-1 lead with 17:13 on the clock.
The Retrievers responded with three in a row to tie the game, the third by Levendusky with 1:07 remaining in the half, and it would appear the teams would enter the intermission with a 4-4 score, but Yale midfielder Lauren Taylor scored her second goal of the game with just six seconds left to give the Bulldogs a 5-4 halftime advantage.
Junior midfielder Abbey Swift found Levendusky just 1:23 into the second half to knot the score at 5-5 before Yale midfielder Kat Peetz tallied two in a row to put the Bulldogs back on top, 7-5.
But the Retrievers scored three of the next four and four of the next six to tie the game twice more, and sophomore midfielder Kelly Burgoyne's third goal of the game knotted the score at 9-9 with 10:46 remaining.
But just 36 seconds later, Taylor completed her hat trick with the eventual game winner, and midfielder Taylor Fragapane scored twice over the final 8:25 of play to give Yale the 12-9 victory.
Levendusky led all scorers with four goals, while Burgoyne notched her second consecutive hat trick and her third in four games.
Senior attack Meghan Keelan recorded two assists to give her 20 on the season, tying the fifth-best single-season total in school history. The last Retriever with as many as 20 helpers in a season was Jamie Gerhart in 2002. In addition, Keelan took sole possession of 10th place all-time with 45 career assists.
Peetz and Taylor each scored three goals to lead the Bulldogs, while Fragapane and midfielder Jenn Warden tallied two apiece.
UMBC sophomore goalie Kate Quick made seven saves, while Yale keeper Ellen Cameron also stopped seven shots.
Yale out-shot the Retrievers, 26-23, and held a 13-7 advantage on ground balls, but UMBC won the draw control battle, 13-10, including 7-3 in the first half.
The Retrievers return to action on Saturday, April 19, when they host America East rival Boston University at 4 p.m. at UMBC Stadium. The game is the regular-season finale for UMBC, who will honor its three seniors - Levendusky, Keelan and midfielder Maggie Chizmar - in a pregame Senior Day ceremony.
