BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C.— The Montreat women's lacrosse team suffered its first defeat of the 2022 season on a rainy Thursday afternoon in Black Mountain, N.C., falling to the Emmanuel College Lions, an NCAA Division II opponent, 14-7. With the defeat, the Cavaliers moved to 2-1 on the season.
 
Emmanuel (1-0) started the contest on the front foot, scoring just seconds into the game. Off the initial draw control, the Lions drove through the center of the field into a vacated crease and delivered the opener. The Lions then doubled their advantage at the 11:39 mark of the quarter.
 
Montreat broke through after five minutes of game action, with Dovie Yates finding a pocket of space and firing home an Izzy Knight pass. Minutes later at the 6:29 mark of the first quarter, the Cavaliers found their equalizer. Aleea Bone tallied her sixth goal of the season to level the contest at two goals apiece.
 
The second quarter belonged to the Lions as they controlled possession and recorded the game's next four goals. Thanks to first-half edges in shots (20-9), shots on goal (12-6) and draw controls (8-3), Emmanuel jumped out to a 6-2 lead.
 
Montreat got a goal back in the final minute of the second quarter, with Kate Gauntlett scoring on a free position attempt while the Cavaliers were up a player; however, the deficit remained at three goals for just 15 seconds. The Lions earned a free position attempt with 0.7 seconds on the clock, and they made the most of it to lead 7-3 at halftime.
 
Like the first two quarters, the Lions needed less than 50 seconds to get on the board. Emmanuel scored less than 15 seconds into the second half to push their edge up to 8-3. That lead would increase to 9-3 before the Cavaliers tallied their first goal of the third frame.
 
Knight made an impressive run through traffic for Montreat's first score of the second half. Sliding through a crease, Knight whipped a shot into the net, trimming the deficit to 9-4 with 9:04 remaining in the third quarter; however, like the second quarter, the Lions had a response waiting, pushing the lead back out to six 90 seconds later.
 
Montreat utilized another free position attempt to cut the score to 10-5. With 4:02 left in the frame, Knight rifled a shot from the top of the crease that snuck past the goalie. Neither side could tack on another goal over the last four minutes, and the Cavaliers entered the final quarter down 10-5.
 
Justine Dorelas, who led all goal scorers with six, tallied the first goal in the final frame. Knight answered two minutes later at 11:17 to complete her hat trick, and she added an assist with less than five minutes remaining on a Yates tally. Despite Montreat's fourth quarter goals, the Lions added a few of their own to help see out the 14-7 victory.
 
Emmanuel racked up twice as many shots as the Cavaliers (38-19), and it held a distinct advantage on draw controls throughout the contest (16-8).
 
Knight led the Cavaliers with three goals and two assists, while Yates notched two scores in the defeat.
 
The Montreat women's lacrosse team travels to Spartanburg, S.C. on Saturday for a non-conference contest at Converse University. Game action is set to begin at 1:00 p.m.