TACOMA, Wash.— The Pacific Lutheran University women's lacrosse team's strong first half \against the University of Puget Sound wasn't enough to stop a Loggers late rally, falling 14-10 on Saturday afternoon at East Field. 

Saturday was a non-conference matchup between crosstown rivals with momentum, both coming off wins over Eastern Oregon University the previous week. The two Tacoma program's additionally split the Northwest Conference Athlete of the Week awards, with PLU's Gracie Cecka earning defensive player of the week and the Loggers' winning the offensive award. 

"We continue to see improvements on our main areas of focus," Head Coach Melanie Rizzotti noted. "I'm happy with our effort and the connections we are finding on the field. Having seven different goal scorers for 10 goals is the kind of team offense we are looking to run. We're learning from today and will make some adjustments for tomorrow."

The game started off with a bang for PLU. Kassie Diller notched a save early on and immediately set the tone in cage. Emily Mejia was the party starter, earning the first goal of the day off a feed from Fiona Stromire. Paige Hackman immediately won the next draw and charged down the field, quick sticking a goal off her own miss to give PLU a 2-0 advantage. Hackman wasn't finished, as she scored another goal just minutes later. Taylee Alldredge added to the lead, scoring shortly after off a pass from Peyton Terhar to make it 4-0 PLU.

The Loggers scored four straight to tie up the game. Alldredge broke the tie with four minutes left in the first, making it 5-4 PLU. Terhar added another with one minute in the first quarter, but the Loggers scored with 16 seconds left in the first to get back within one goal.

In the second quarter both teams started to ratchet up the defense as cards piled up as both teams traded goals with PLU entering the half up 9-8. The Loggers would capitalize on huge momentum swinging saves from their goalie, who stifled the Lutes offense on the inside near the crease. Puget Sound would take the lead to end the third quarter 10-9 and they never looked back.

Diller played all 60 minutes in cage and finished with eight saves. Hackman led the way for the Lutes offensively finishing with three points on two goals and one assist. Lia Zaboski held it down on the defensive side finishing with four caused turnovers and three ground balls. Samantha Patino Velasco had team-high five ground balls on the day from the midfield.

PLU returns to action tomorrow at 1 PM as they travel to Forest Grove, Oregon to take on Pacific University in a non-conference dual.