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KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State women's lacrosse team managed to keep an aggressive New Hampshire squad in check, but could not overcome an early deficit, eventually falling to the Wildcats 16-13 Sunday afternoon at Fifth Third Bank Stadium.
 
How it happened: Siena Gore got the Owls (2-4) rolling with a free position goal less than 30 seconds into the game to put KSU on top. Marissa Gore followed suit with a free position goal of her own just moments later before New Hampshire (4-2) finally got on the board behind back-to-back goals from Devan Miller to tie the game 2-2 at the 24:52 mark.
 
After a goal from Izzy Palermo, the Wildcats took the lead behind a 3-0 run for a 5-3 advantage with 15 minutes still to play. The two squads traded goals before New Hampshire closed out the half with two straight goals to lead 8-5 heading into the locker room.
 
The Wildcats added to their lead at the onset of the second half as Miller found the back of the net once again. Haley Swift answered for the Owls just two minutes later, sparking a 4-1 run for KSU with goals from Jennifer Buckley and back-to-back scores from Abby Squires.
 
Down 10-9, the Owls comeback attempt was stymied by UNH as the Wildcat defense buckled down to allow only one goal over the next 17 minutes. During that span, New Hampshire built its lead to 15-10 with just five minutes left.
 
Marissa Gore finally ended the drought for KSU with a free position goal at the 4:34 mark. The Owls managed to record two goals in the last 20 seconds of the game, but in the end there was not enough time to pull off the comeback as KSU fell 16-13.
 
Notes: Siena Gore led the Owls with four goals, her fourth game this year with four or more goals … Siena Gore finished the game with six points as she, Haley Swift and Marissa Gore all recorded two assists … Haley Swift, Marissa Gore, Abby Squires and Jennifer Buckley all netted two goals each … Alex Bunn finished with 13 saves, her fifth double-digit save game of the year, recording 11 in the second half … UNH outshot KSU 39-27, logging 23 shots in the second half compared to 16 for the Owls … New Hampshire recorded 17 ground balls in the game, 10 in the second half, compared to KSU's nine, three in the second half … Marissa Gore logged her second straight game with eight draw controls, giving her 32 on the year, just five shy of cracking the single-season top-10 … KSU finished the game 6-of-11 on free position shots … New Hampshire recorded 27 fouls and five yellow cards in the game.
 
Quotes: Head Coach Laura Maness
On her thoughts about the game…
"New Hampshire was probably one of the scrappiest and most aggressive teams that we've seen all year and we knew that going in so I think it was a really good challenge for our girls. I thought we started the game on a high note and I thought we finished the game on a high note and there were some lulls in between that really cost us. We came out strong getting the eight-meter shots right away and then we finished with really quick goals, but it was too little too late." 
 
On the ground ball differential…
"What really killed us was the ground balls. They got second and third chances on offense off of loose balls after shooting and that ultimately cost us the game, that they were able to get so many more shots than we got due to the ground ball hustle and the scrappiness that they had. We are going to work on that this week going into our next game and hopefully we can fix that one stat because I think that will turn the game around."
 
On the second half defense…
"Alex [Bunn] had a much better second half and was supporting the defensive schemes that we use. She was able to steal some saves, play with confidence and the defense rallied around her. They were making good stops and good plays, they just weren't coming up with the possession on the loose balls. I was happy overall with how they played defense, it was more or less how they were going to convert that into offensive possessions that was the issue. But Alex came up big in the second half with 11 saves and she adjusted really well in game."
 
Up next: The Owls will close out their homestand with their first ASUN game of the year, hosting conference newcomers Liberty Saturday (Mar. 16) at 12 p.m.