Box Score Rocky Mount, NC - After two halves of play, the Piedmont Lady Lions reached the end of their first USA South Lacrosse Tournament and inaugural season with a 19-3 semifinal loss to the top-seeded Captains of Christopher Newport University. Piedmont finished the 2013 season with a 12-4 overall record and accomplished the goal they set at the beginning of the inaugural season: to make it to the USA South conference tournament.

The Lady Lions came into today's match with no pressure on them as the #4-seeded underdog against #1 CNU. The Captains took the first point of the game with a goal :20 seconds in off of a caused turnover. The Lady Lions defense got to work after the score with Carly Haraka making three brilliant saves. The defensive effort gave Piedmont the motivation it needed to battle back. Maggie McDaniel beat the Captains defense to tie up the semifinal 1-1 with twenty minutes left in the first half. Christopher Newport would not leave the goal unanswered though, scoring shortly after and again while man-up after a Piedmont yellow card. The Captains scored three more consecutive goals minutes later including the eventual game-winner. At the end of the first half, Piedmont trailed 8-1.

Second half play saw more strong shooting by CNU including three shots that snuck past Haraka in the first five minutes. Piedmont gave up an eight meter shot with 23 minutes left but bounced back a minute later when Ashton Nash struck her own eight meter goal to bring the score to 12-2. The Lady Lions stayed in the game til the very end, putting a number of shots on goal late into the second half. With five minutes remaining, Megan McDowell slung a ball past the CNU keeper on an eight meter shot to give the Lady Lions their last goal of the match.

Carly Haraka kept the Captains offense honest, making 14 saves split between both halves. Offensively, the Lions were led by McDowell, McDaniel and Kayla Freund - each taking 2 shots apiece. Coaches Emily Jacquette and Jessie Moulton were very proud of the team's success this season. They had the following to say, "We are really proud of our team for the success they had this season. We set a goal at the beginning of the year to make it to the conference tournament. We achieved that goal and then some by making it to the semifinals, a huge accomplishment for this first season. The future is bright for Piedmont Women's Lacrosse!"