LEXINGTON, VA – The Randolph College women's lacrosse team battled the cold rain and wind Tuesday afternoon at Washington and Lee University and played the reigning conference champions even in the second half, falling 16-5 in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) action from Watt Field.

                The Generals (1-2/1-0 ODAC) jumped out of the gates fast, scoring the first five goals before junior Melanie Eisele (Kennett Square, PA/Sanford School) finished a pass from Randolph teammate Taylor Klevenz (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill) to make the score 5-1. W&L finished the half on a 7-0 run to take a 12-1 lead into halftime.

                After the break, Randolph (0-2/0-2 ODAC) scored three of the first four goals of the second half to pull to within nine at 13-4, but the Generals answered with three of their own to push it back out to a double-digit lead. Randolph's defense was much better in the second half, allowing just 17 shots in the period, playing W&L to a 4-4 second half.

                WildCat sophomore keeper Samantha Fagone (Bayshore, NY/Bayshore) had a fantastic game in net, as she finished with 15 saves for Randolph. Her 15 stops were the fourth-most in a game for a WildCat keeper, and the most since Fagone made 19 saves against Sweet Briar College last March 29.

                Randolph senior attack Danielle Haney (Norwood, PA/Interboro) notched a pair of scores on five shots, while Klevenz totaled two goals, an assist and five draw controls for the WildCats. Randolph defender Ashley Stevens (Leicester, MA/St. Peter-Marian) had a team-high of four ground balls, while teammate Jess Andersen (Catonsville, MD/Catonsville) added two caused turnovers. Junior Ashley Edwards (Sumerduck, VA/Liberty) had an assist and four draw controls as well for Randolph.

                Randolph struggled to clear the defensive zone on the afternoon, posting only nine clears on 17 attempts. Randolph also turned the ball over 25 times to just the 16 from the Generals. Washington and Lee was paced by the four goals from first-year Emily Conway, while Margaret Klein and Meredith Lavin each posted three goals apiece. W&L outshot Randolph 47-13 on the afternoon, and also had a 27-10 edge in ground balls.

                Randolph will be back in action this Saturday afternoon in WildCat Stadium as it starts a four-game home stand with a non-conference contest against the Monarchs of Methodist University at 3 p.m.

--RANDOLPH--