BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C.— The Montreat women's lacrosse team played the Georgetown College Tigers in an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) competition at Pulliam Stadium Saturday afternoon. With the score tied at 14 in the closing seconds, Kate Gauntlett buried a free position shot to hand the Cavaliers a 15-14 triumph on Senior Day. Following the win, the Cavs improved to 4-7 overall and 3-2 in AAC play for the 2024 campaign.
 
Gauntlett propelled the Cavaliers out to a 4-2 advantage thanks to a hat trick over 6:29 of game time, including her 200^th career tally with 9:17 on the clock; however, Georgetown (5-10, 3-2 AAC) responded with two more goals to level the score at four 15 minutes into the contest. Ruthann Stout made five first-quarter saves in net to keep GC from taking an edge in the frame.
 
"Hitting 200 goals was a personal goal that I had for my career at Montreat. I wanted to leave a legacy for the players coming after me and inspire the future players in the lacrosse program," mentioned Gauntlett on her milestone achievement.
 
The visitors extended their run to 4-0 as the Tigers led 6-4 just 2:22 into the ensuing quarter, but Montreat answered with four consecutive goals of its own. Madison Terrell netted three quick strikes and McKinley Edmondson added one as the Cavs used the stretch to enter halftime up 8-6.
 
At the intermission, both sides had comparable stats with each team registering 17 shots and 14 on target. Montreat held a slight advantage in draw controls (9-7) and free position goals (4-1), while Georgetown grabbed edges in clears (10-8) and caused turnovers (6-3). Stout sat at eight stops through 30 minutes.
 
Grace Wiegand and Hannah Jarboe expanded the run to six straight to hand the home team a 10-6 lead moments into the third frame. In a back-and-forth period, GC notched four consecutive goals to knot the scoreline at 10 goals apiece. From there the sides traded four strikes as Gauntlett and Terrell helped the Cavs remain tied (12-12) with 15 minutes left in regulation.
 
A similar trend continued in the final frame of the tight matchup where the Cavaliers and Tigers combined for two more ties. Gauntlett's fifth and sixth goals of the game were answered by the visitors as time wound under three minutes with both teams locked at 14. After Montreat survived a man-down situation and Stout recorded a save on a free position shot, Gauntlett drew a foul with less than 10 seconds left on the clock. The senior from Dawsonville, Ga. proceeded to bury the opportunity with seven ticks remaining to secure the dramatic triumph for the team.
 
"It was an awesome feeling scoring the game-winning goal. It was a shoutout to Jailyn Munoz, who lost her senior year due to an injury, and the rest of the seniors who joined us to play lacrosse. I'm just so thankful for a great senior class," said Gauntlett.
 
Gauntlett finished with seven goals, while Terrell added five goals and a pair of assists in the win. Stout saved 13 opposing shots, her second-most this season. Overall, the Tigers outshot the Cavaliers 32-31, 27-24 on frame. Montreat collected one more draw control (17-16) and 10 additional ground balls (26-16), while the visitors had the edge in clears (19-15) and caused turnovers (8-6).
 
Women's lacrosse plays its final home contest of the season on Wednesday when the team welcomes the Warren Wilson College Owls to town. Opening draw control at Pulliam Stadium is slated for 6 p.m.