WALESKA, Ga.— The Montreat women's lacrosse team saw its first-ever AAC Tournament run come to an end on Friday afternoon as the Cavaliers fell to the top-seeded and No. 3-ranked SCAD Savannah Bees, 26-9, in Waleska, Ga. With the semifinal-round defeat, the Cavaliers' record slid to 10-7 on the year.
 
SCAD Savannah (11-2) started strong, scoring just seconds into the contest to grab the early lead. The top-seeded Bees ultimately scored the first six goals of the contest, leading 6-0 with 4:51 remaining in the first frame.
 
Kate Gauntlett got the Cavaliers on the board at the 4:14 mark of the initial quarter, capitalizing on an Aleea Bone pass in a dangerous position to pull the Cavs within five. Just 61 seconds later, Gauntlett added another tally, trimming the deficit to 6-2.
 
Hannah Jarboe's 33^rd goal of the season offset another SCAD strike, but the Bees added one more late in the frame to lead 8-3 after 15 minutes of play. Carlie Henning made seven saves in the quarter to keep Montreat within shouting distance.
 
Following another Bees' score, Gauntlett grabbed her hat trick on a man-up goal to bring the Cavs back to within five (9-4) at the 12:21 mark. The Dawsonville, Ga. native answered another SCAD tally minutes later by scoring her fourth goal on Bone's fourth assist of the day to make it 10-5. Gauntlett's strike was her 100^th goal of the season, the most by a Cavalier and the fourth-most ever by an NAIA women's lacrosse athlete in a single season.
 
The Bees dominated the final nine minutes of the opening half, scoring seven consecutive goals to take a 17-5 lead into the halftime break. SCAD held edges over Montreat in shots (28-16), shots on goal (25-14), draw controls (17-6) and free position scores (3-0) at halftime. Individually, Gauntlett's four scores, Bone's four helpers and Henning's eight saves led the Cavaliers through 30 minutes of action.
 
SCAD scored the first three goals of the third quarter, extending their scoring run to 10-0 and their lead to 20-5. Jarboe momentarily stopped the Bees' scoring spree with her second goal of the game, bringing the deficit to 20-6.
 
While the Bees scored three of the final five tallies in the third, Bone registered her first goal of the day off an Izzy Knight pass, and Gauntlett scored her fifth of the contest to whittle the SCAD Savannah lead down to 23-8 with 15 minutes remaining.
 
Gauntlett's sixth score of the day, which gave her an NAIA-leading 102 goals on the year, was Montreat's lone tally in the fourth quarter. The Bees scored three of the four goals in the final frame to defeat the Cavaliers, 26-9, and end the Cavs' AAC Tournament run in the semifinal round.
 
SCAD Savannah finished the day with sizable advantages in a handful of categories as the Bees doubled up the Cavs in shots (42-20), shots on goal (38-18) and draw controls (26-11).
 
Gauntlett led all scorers with six goals, while Bone added one tally and four assists. Jarboe registered two goals, and Knight recorded two assists in the effort. Meanwhile, Henning made 12 saves in net.
 
The Montreat women's lacrosse team still has a pair of non-conference games in Virginia on its schedule, starting with a matchup next Friday against Hollins University, an NCAA Division III institution. Opening draw is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. in Roanoke, Va.