York, Pa. – The St. Mary's College of Maryland women's lacrosse team rallied in the second half Saturday afternoon but came up short in an 11-6 loss to No. 15 York College of Pennsylvania in the semifinals of the 2015 Capital Athletic Conference Championship Tournament.

St. Mary's (13-5), who was the third seed in this year's CAC Tournament, was making its 16th trip to the CAC Tournament Semifinals and the second under fifth-year Head Coach Lisa Valentine. The Seahawks are also enjoying their first 10-win campaign since 2011. Second-seeded York (13-4) will face No. 9 and top seed Salisbury University for the fourth straight season in the CAC title game on Saturday, May 2nd.

Junior captain Tori Poffenberger (Sharpsburg, Md./Boonsboro) paced the Seahawks in the game with her ninth hat trick of the season while first-year Lexi Thorne (Riva, Md./Pallotti) came up with her second double-digit save game of the season as Thorne posted 11 saves.

The Seahawks drew first blood as Poffenberger gave her team a 1-0 lead at 27:35 with her 100th career goal. York responded with seven unanswered goal to stake a six-goal lead at 4:00. Sophomore attacker Abbey Harrison (Easton, Md./Easton) stopped the Spartan run with her 20th of the year off an assist from junior midfielder Shelby Newman (Hampstead, Md./Manchester Valley) at 1:02.

York headed into halftime with an 8-2 advantage as sophomore midfielder Kelly Curran (North Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) notched an unassisted goal with three seconds to go in the half. Sophomore attacker Jayme Verman (York, Pa./Lancaster Country Day) led all scorers with two scores.

Verman started the scoring just 16 seconds into the second half but Newman answered for St. Mary's 28 seconds later for a 9-3 contest at 29:16. York regained a seven-goal lead at 27:21 behind a free position goal from first-year midfielder Melissa Meehling (Monkton, Md./Hereford). The Seahawks fired off three straight, including two from Poffenberger, to close the gap to 10-6 at 9:52.

Senior midfielder Sarah Castle (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis Area Christian) tallied her second of the day at 7:33 for the final goal of the game. The Spartan defense limited St. Mary's to four turnovers and one shot in the final seven minutes of the game.

York outshot the Seahawks, 33-17; registered an 18-13 margin in ground balls; and edged them 11-8 in draw controls. Verman collected a hat trick to lead the Spartans while junior attacker Allison Kolacy (Rockaway, N.J./Morris Knolls) added three points as well on a goal and two helpers. Junior Rachel Donovan (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) made eight stops in York's sixth straight win.

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