St. Mary's City, Md. – It was a battle of defensive zones Wednesday afternoon between the No. 19 St. Mary's College of Maryland women's lacrosse team and No. 7 York College of Pennsylvania Wednesday afternoon in Capital Athletic Conference action. St. Mary's claimed the decisive battle by a 5-4 margin as junior midfielder Erika Kopf (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis) netted the game-winning goal with 5:31 left.

The defensive grind lasted all 60 minutes as the two sides only combined for nine goals all game, including just three goals in the first half.

York (7-4, 2-2 CAC) struck first at 25:41 as first-year midfielder Claudia DiVenti (Monkton, Md./North Harford) finished off a feed from senior attacker Brittany Noell (Silver Spring, Md./Good Counsel). Kopf knotted the game with her first goal of the day on a free position shot at 19:46. The last goal of the first half came at 12:10 as senior attacker Allison Kolacy (Rockaway, N.J./Morris Knolls) fed first-year midfielder Caitlin Rankin (Joppa, Md./Edgewood) in the middle for a 2-1 Spartan halftime lead.

Sophomore midfielder Katherine Burk (Media, Pa./Strath Haven) and junior midfielder Jordan Cassella (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Comswogue) each found the back of the net to give the Spartans their biggest lead of the game, 4-1, at 16:49 of the second half.

St. Mary's (11-1, 2-1 CAC) took over from there with four unanswered goals. Senior attacker Ashley Lawrence (Annapolis, Md./Spalding) started the 4-0 run with her sixth of the season at 15:54 followed by sophomore attacker Lacey Brown (Monkton, Md./Hereford) at 9:57 off a feed from Kopf. Senior captain Shelby Newman (Hampstead, Md./Manchester Valley) then tied up the game with an unassisted goal at 8:49.

York outshot the Seahawks, 19-14, and edged St. Mary's, 15-14, in ground balls as junior defender Katie Owens (Forest Hill, Md./North Harford) scooped up a game-high three. It was all St. Mary's in draw controls, winning eight of 11 behind two from sophomore midfielder Kerri Kline (Hagerstown, Md./Saint James).

Senior captain Kate Somerville (Baltimore, Md./Notre Dame Prep) starred for the Seahawks on the defensive end with a career-best four caused turnovers, three ground balls, and one draw control.

Between the pipes, senior captain Kayla Dunn (Rockville, Md./Good Counsel) turned away 11 shots, including eight saves in the first half, in St. Mary's fourth straight win. Senior Rachel Donovan (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) finished with eight stops in the Spartans' fourth loss of the season.

The Seahawks return to action this Saturday, April 2 when St. Mary's travels to Dover, Delaware to take on Wesley College in another conference matchup at 1:00 p.m.

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