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SCORE: Kennesaw State 8, Winthrop 9 
RECORDS: Kennesaw State (4-4, 1-0), Winthrop (4-4, 1-0) 
KEY PLAYERS: Siena Gore (6 goals, 5 DCs, 5 GBs), Julia Weiss (14 saves, 3 GBs), Camryn Klaus (1 goal, 1 GB, 1 CT), Emily Napierala (1 goal, 1 GB) and Marissa Gore (2 DCs, 1 GB, 1 CT).

THE STORYLINE
It was a defensive showdown Tuesday afternoon and despite a career-high 14 saves from keeper Julia Weiss, the Kennesaw State women's lacrosse team could not gain the edge as Winthrop recorded a narrow 9-8 victory.

MANESS QUOTE
On the loss…
"I think defensively we had a standout day, holding a team to nine goals, we should be winning a ton of games if we do that defensively. Julia Weiss had a great day in goal. Part of the problems though, especially in the first half, was that Winthrop was getting a lot of second and third chance possessions off of ground balls or deflections. Over time, the possession time just weighed in their favor with those long sets. But I really thought overall defensively we were playing solid, locked in defense and I thought that was a positive takeaway. Offensively, we only had three people score and I thought we started out good, we started out with two quick goals and then we really just went into a drought. I talked about playing with fire and passion at the end of the game because I feel that offensively we sparked again at the end of the game, but it was kind of too little too late. I talked to the players about making sure they keep that fire and that passion throughout the entire 60 minutes, it's just not enough to turn it on in the last 10 minutes. Unfortunately, we went through a drought on the offensive end, we tried to kickstart it and get it going, but we ran out of time."

HOW IT HAPPENED  
The Owls raced out of the gates at the onset, with Camryn Klaus and Emily Napierala netting two goals in quick succession to give KSU a 2-0 lead a minute and half into the game. Winthrop answered with two quick goals of its own just 30 seconds apart to tie the game 2-2 with 22:03 left in the half.

It was another 10 minutes before anyone broke through as the two teams locked it down defensively. Siena Gore logged a free position goal to put the Owls on top 3-2, recording a second from the arc eight minutes later to give the Owls a 4-2 advantage with 4:47 left in the half. Looking to head into halftime with a two-goal lead, the Eagles played spoiler racing down the field after a caused turnover to score a goal with just three seconds left on the clock to cut the lead to 4-3 at intermission.

The Eagles went on to tie the game with a goal at the 27:24 mark in the second half. After another goal from Siena Gore, Winthrop finally gained the edge, 6-5, with back-to-back goals just under a minute apart. Winthrop went on to extend its lead to 9-5 with three more goals before Siena Gore ended the drought to pull the Owls within three 9-6 at the 14:34 mark.

Siena Gore added two more goals as she attempted to jumpstart KSU's offense, cutting the lead to 9-8. Unfortunately, the Owls' comeback attempt ran out of time as Siena Gore's second goal came with just 1:04 left in the game. The Eagles went on to run out the clock for the narrow victory.

NOTES 
- Siena Gore recorded six or more goals for the third straight game.
- This marked the first time since squaring off with Winthrop in 2020 that the Owls have held a team to under 10 goals.
- Julia Weiss' 14 saves is tied for sixth in KSU single-game history.
- Winthrop out-drew KSU 9-2 in the second half, 12-7 for the game.

UP NEXT  
The Owls hit the road for a showdown at Delaware State Saturday (Apr. 3) at 12 p.m.