St. Mary's City, Md. – The St. Mary's College of Maryland women's soccer team battled hard in trying to overcome a two-goal deficit in the first round of the 2014 Capital Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Championship Tournament on a cold, windy Saturday afternoon. However, the third-seeded Seahawks fell short and dropped a 3-2 decision to No. 6 seed University of Mary Washington.

The loss ends St. Mary's campaign for 2014 under first-year head coach Peter Krech. The Seahawks finished with a 9-6-3 (6-2-1 CAC) record for the most wins (9) since 2008 while matching a program-best six conference wins for the fourth time in school history.

Mary Washington's (11-6-2) season continues as the Eagles advance to next Wednesday's tournament semifinals at second-seeded Salisbury University.

UMW owned an early 2-0 advantage at 14:24 behind unassisted goals from forwards Taylor Decker (Nokesville, Va./Kettle Run) and Jessica Bednarcik (Thornton, Pa./Bayard Rustin). Decker's third goal of the season resulted from a misplayed clear at 10:48 while Bednarcik picked up her third of the year as a loose ball in the box bounced off her into the goal.

Sophomore midfielder Claire Kostelnik (Los Angeles, Calif./Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy) pulled the Seahawks within 2-1 at 17:31 with a header for her fourth tally of season. First-year defender Morgan Rusinko (Bel Air, Md./Bel Air) sent a lob pass into the box where Kostelnik headed it over a defender and senior goalkeeper Charlotte Owens (Fairfax, Va./Robinson).

The Eagles went into halftime with a 3-1 advantage following an unassisted goal by sophomore forward Maryfay Jackson (Reston, Va./Herndon) for her third of 2014 at 18:34. Mary Washington's finished the first half with a 12-6 shot advantage while the Seahawks owned a 6-1 margin in corner kicks.

Junior forward Jess Konecke (Gaithersburg, Md./Quince Orchard) cut the deficit in half once again at 60:40 as Konecke one-timed fellow classmate Gillian Sawyer's (Columbia, Md./Wilde Lake) cross that rolled in front of the goal. Sawyer won the ball following a bad clear by Mary Washington.

Shots were even in the second half at four each while the Seahawks posted a 3-1 edge in corners in their rally. Mary Washington controlled with a 16-10 shot advantage in the game while St. Mary's forced nine corners to the Eagles' two.

First-year Sydney Larkin (Salisbury, Md./Parkside) came up with seven stops as Larkin finished her rookie campaign with an 8-5-3 record and six shutouts. Owens registered four saves as UMW extended its win streak to three.

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