Thousand Oaks, CA - The Alfred University women's lacrosse team began their California Spring Break trip with an 18-14 loss to Cal-Lutheran on Saturday. 

"We had a tough time taking care of the ball in transition and showing up on our defensive slides in the first half," Head Coach Julie Decker said. "We were able to clean those things up in the second half and were able to finish to really make it a game. Obviously, we wanted to get a win today, but these non-conference games are learning lessons that truly don't affect our postseason chances. We are determined to come out strong with better attention to details at the beginning of games moving forward."

The Saxons (0-3, 0-0 Empire 8) were forced to play from behind after the Regals (3-3, 1-3 SCIAC) opened the game with back-to-back goals. Alfred University got on the scoreboard thanks to a man-up goal from Cassidy Primrose (Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker). Amelia Booth (Staatsburg, NY/FDR) and Jessica Matson (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) additionally tallied goals in the first quarter, but Alfred University was still behind in 6-3 fashion. The lone goal for AU in the second quarter came from Megan Rinker (Le Roy, NY/Le Roy) during a man-up situation, as Cal-Lutheran went into halftime with a 9-4 lead. 

The Regals opened the second half with three straight goals before Booth found recorded her second goal of the afternoon. Goals from Primrose and Paige Stansfield (Painted Post, NY/Corning-Painted Post) had Alfred University cutting into their deficit. Kylee Bedette (Waterloo, NY/Waterloo) dished an assist to Booth before the Saxons went into the fourth quarter with a 15-8 deficit. 

Alfred University captured momentum in the early stages of the fourth quarter, with Bedette, Booth and Primorse combining for four consecutive scores. Booth and Anna Priebe (Palmyra, NY/Pal-Mac) each contributed with goals in the closing moments of regulation, but Cal-Lutheran closed out the game with the win.

Alfred University will next wrap up their Spring Break trip with a non-conference outing at University of Redlands on Tuesday at 7pm local time.