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KENNESAW, Ga. – Kennesaw State stayed within reach of Liberty for the first 30 minutes, until the Flames scored the first five goals of the second half, leading to a 16-7 loss for the Owls on their Senior Day on Saturday afternoon in the ASUN women's lacrosse season finale for both teams from Fifth Third Bank Stadium. KSU dropped to 11-6 for the season, and finished at 3-2 in the ASUN, while Liberty improved to 10-7, 4-1 in league play.
Both teams had already come into the contest knowing the outcome would not change their postseason paths, as the Owls and the Flames were already locked into the No. 2-No. 3 semifinal contest next week. KSU is now officially the third seed, and will face the second-seed Liberty squad in the ASUN Tournament on Thursday, May 5 in a 4 p.m. contest. This year's tournament is hosted by Jacksonville University, who claimed the regular season title with a 5-0 mark.
KEY PLAYERS: Senior
Siena Gore was held to more than two goals under her season average, posting a team-high tying two, while classmate
McKenzie Jackson also scored a pair of goals.
Julia Weiss played a strong first half in goal for KSU, allowing seven goals while collecting six saves.
THE RUNDOWN: KSU never led in the game, giving up the game's first two goals and four of the first five as Liberty ended the opening quarter with a 4-1 advantage. The Owls played the visitors even in the second quarter however, with Gore's first goal of the game bringing KSU within two to open the period. Liberty scored two straight, but Gore and Jackson answered with back-to-back goals to bring KSU within 6-4 with 3:41 to play. Liberty responded with its seventh goal of the half, and kept KSU out of the net for a 7-4 halftime advantage.
The Flames then scored five straight after the halftime break, for an eventual 6-0 run over a 15:53 span. That allowed Liberty to take control of the game, going up 12-4 with 4:25 on the clock in the third.
QUOTEABLE: "I think it was good in a standpoint of everyone was playing for each other, working really hard together. We had lots of upperclassmen on the field and contributing and that's what we wanted to see today. Unfortunately the score didn't go our way but we're excited with moving onto the ASUN tournament. Our seniors really left their mark on the program to elevate it from one that was under .500 when they came in. They believed what it could be turned into, they rolled up their sleeves as freshman and steadily got to work on getting us to where we are today, setting the school record for most wins in a season." -
KSU head coach Laura Maness.
NOTES
-Gore moved her career goal total to 312, which still ranks her as fourth highest all-time in NCAA history.
-The other KSU goals on the day came from
Jaxsyn Schonewille,
Caroline Farley and
Hannah Barth.
-
Bailey Wilson paced the team with five ground balls while Gore posted nine draw controls.
-KSU was outshot 36-21, and lost the turnover battle 26-15.
-The Owls did hold a 15-9 edge on draw controls.
