Box Score Rocky Mount, NC—Piedmont's Women's Lacrosse moved one step closer to their first USA South Conference tournament title with a hard-fought 17-13 win over Greensboro College. The Lady Lions defeated the Pride in a game that saw multiple lead changes–including Piedmont falling behind twice in the first half.

The match did not look to be going well for the Lady Lions early on. Greensboro attacked hard, scoring two goals in the first five minutes, but the'yre lead would not stick for long. Piedmont defender Ashtin Thomas caused a turnover in the defensive half earning a foul on the counter-attack. The opportunity turned golden as she moved the ball forward to Maggie McDaniel. The midfielder then found Mckynsey Douglas who deflty maneuvered between defenders and shot on goal, scoring Piedmont's first goal of the match. The tide quickly turned offensively as Piedmont put the pressure on. Megan McDowell wasn't satisfied with one of her shots being saved so she picked up the rebounded groundball and quickly scored on her second attempt. The Lady Lions found goal number three in a situation eerily similar to the first with Douglas scoring on another McDaniel assist to take the lead.

Greensboro made an attempt to score several rebound goals but Piedmont goalkeeper Carly Haraka would have none of it, saving a pair of shots including a free position attempt. The Lady Lions made her defensive efforts worthwhile soon after as Maggie McDaniel picked up a groundball after two Douglas shots and found a space to shoot and score for the 4-2 lead with nineteen minutes left in the half. Unfortunately, Greensboro was ready for revenge and in the next ten minutes they didn't allow a single Piedmont goal while scoring six of their own and taking an 8-4 lead away from the top-seeded Lady Lions.

Piedmont, never a team to stay down for long, started a slow comeback over the remaining eights minutes of play in the half. Kayla Jones started off scoring at eight minutes left then Greensboro answered with their ninth goal of the half moments later. At five minutes left, Maggie McDaniel earned a shooting space foul. She capitalized on it by scoring swiftly and then thirty seconds later asssisted a strong goal by Megan McDowell after a Cahner Manns-won draw control. Another minute after Piedmont inched another goal closer to Greensboro as Manns earned her first goal of the match.

Under a minute to go, the half looked to be over. Fortunately for Piedmont, it wasn't with Maggie McDaniel scoring on a quick counter attack. After the next Manns-won draw control, McDaniel took off with the ball and found Kayla Jones around the opposite side of the goal. Jones received the pass and then scored for the 10-9 lead just before the halftime buzzer. Both teams went into the intermission dead even on saves and turnover stats with six and four respectively while Greensboro led Piedmont 19-18 on shots and 9-5 on ground balls.

The first five minutes of the second half were a sprint for the lead by both teams. Piedmont attempted to pull away with a number of shots on goal but nothing got past the Greensboro keeper early on. The Pride then counter-attacked and scored to tie up the game at ten goals apiece. Greensboro then tried to put in another goal, but Carly Haraka made the save—she would have seven saves to her name at the conclusion of the game. Cahner Manns picked up another goal just after five minutes elapsed in the half. Mckysney Douglas then scored a pair of goals—the latter on a free position attempt—sandwiched around a Pride goal. The attacker wasn't finished scoring as she put another pair of goals in the net minutes later. McDowell assisted the first and third while McDaniel assisted the fourth goal. McDowell then notched another goal of her own for the 16-11 lead with seventeen minutes left to play.

Both teams continued to fight, but Piedmont's lead was large. Greensboro scored two more goals under twelve and six minutes respectively before a final Piedmont goal by Alexis Narducci under four minutes to play set the score in stone, 17-13. The Lady Lions' strong second half efforts were a bane to Greensboro's early efforts as Piedmont outshot the Pride 16-7  and were 9-9 on clears in the second half. Mckynsey Douglas had ten shots in the match and led scoring with six goals to her name.

The victory in the penultimate match of this 2014 USA South Women's Lacrosse Conference Tournament moves Piedmont into the finals against the winner of this afternoon's third-seeded Ferrum versus second-seeded Meredith semifinal match. The final is set for tomorrow at 1:00 PM in Rocky Mount at the Rocky Mount Sports Complex Football Stadium.