A furious fourth quarter comeback came up just short on Friday evening as the Lee women's lacrosse team fell, 13-11 in a road non-conference battle with Limestone.
The Lady Flames outscored the Saints, 5-2 in the final period and ended the game on a 5-0 run but time ran out before Lee could draw any closer.
Limestone held a 9-4 advantage at the half and pushed the lead to as much as seven in the third before Lee began to attack back.
Megan Trout and Brittney White each recorded the hat trick, with three goals apiece.
White added eight draw controls. Hannah Vecsey scored a pair of goals and added one assist. Noelle Harrington tallied a goal and an assist, Maggie Luzier posted three ground balls and dished off an assist and Callie Curtis scored a goal and collected three ground balls.
Kaleigh Bernard started in goal and worked 23:30 before giving way to Caleigh Smith for the final 36:30. Bernard allowed four goals, had one save and one ground ball while Smith gave up nine goals and secured three saves and four ground balls.
Kyleigh Eaton was the difference in the contest as she went the distance in goal for Limestone to earn the victory. She stepped up for 10 saves and scooped up 10 ground balls while allowing 11 goals. Megan Davis and Joscelin Martin led the offensive attack with three goals each. Sarah Dudick posted two goals, one assist and went to the ground to pick up three ground balls.
The two evenly matched teams each registered 28 shots in the contest. Lee placed 21 on goal while the Saints placed 17 on target. Turnovers were nearly even with the Lady Flames committing 17 and the Saints giving it away 18 times. Limestone held a slim 18-17 edge in ground balls while Lee was more efficient clearing the ball, going a perfect 16 for 16 while the home team was 18 of 24.
Lee falls to 5-7 on the year with the loss while Limestone improves to 9-2 overall. The Lady Flames will jump back into conference play on Sunday as they travel to Greenwood, S.C. for a GSC clash with Lander at 1 p.m.