BREVARD, N.C. ญญ- Despite a five-goal performance by junior Victoria Hayes (Freehold, N.J.) and seven assists from junior Nina Siu (Greensboro, N.C.) the Brevard College Tornados (1-8, 0-5 SAC) were unable to overcome a late Newberry College Wolves (5-7, 1-3 SAC) first half run, dropping an 11-10 decision at Wednesday evening in South Atlantic women's lacrosse action.
Offensively, Hayes paced the Tornados with a game-high five scores, firing eight shots on the evening all of which landed on goal. Juniors Kat Harrienger (Watertown, N.Y.) and Kelly Kearnan (Morrisville, N.C.) also got in on the scoring action as Harrienger finished with a lone goal, while Kearnan added two scores on four shots on goal. In addition to the stellar play of Hayes and Kearnan, Siu capped off a performance for the ages as the Greensboro, N.C. native scored two clutch Tornados goals, while assisting on seven of the teams remaining eight goals.
For the Wolves, Rachel Dillon nearly equaled Hayes as the midfielder finished the contest with four goals, firing a game-high 12 shots, 10 of which landed on goal. Additionally, Newberry's Maddie Campbell got in on the scoring action as the midfielder scored three goals of her own, while three other Wolves contributed to the teams 11 scores.
Junior Shelby Arsenault (Shallow Lake, Ontario) spent the entire 60 minutes in net for the blue and white as the veteran backstop stopped 11 of 22 shot attempts for 11 saves and five ground balls.
Brandy Bowman improved to 5-7 on the year in net for Newberry as the goalie finished with 13 saves on 23 shot attempts.
Following two Newberry goals to open the afternoon, the Tornados pulled back within one score of the Wolves, when Siu and Hayes connected for their first of five goal connections on the evening.
Hayes score led to three straight goals for the Tornados as Siu netted the equalizer just over 30 seconds later, while Harrienger and Kearnan put the blue and white up 4-2 with just over 13 minutes remaining in the opening half.
However back-to-back Wolves goals by Rachel Dillon tied the match at 4-4, while a score by Kearnan with 11:13 remaining put the Tornados back up 5-4.
Newberry rolled off three goals in the final 10-minutes to take a 7-5 lead into intermission.
The Wolves added another score just under a minute into the second half to extend their lead to three at 8-5, before Siu and Hayes connected for the second time to trim Newberry's lead back to two scores.
Dillon pushed Newberry's lead back to three scores just over 30 seconds later, while Siu and Hayes connected on back-to-back scores to pull within one score of the Wolves at 9-8.
Newberry would benefit from two more scores over the final 23-minutes of play, forcing the Tornados to battle from behind.
However, the Tornados would not go down without a fight as Siu and Hayes connected on their final scoring play of the evening with 8:44 remaining to pull within two scores of the Wolves.
Siu added her second goal of the contest with just over three-minutes remaining as the junior slashed in on the Newberry net from the right side, firing a shot attempt that beat Bowman to pull the blue and white within striking distance at 11-10 with time winding down.
Brevard would benefit from a clutch forced turnover by junior defender Penina Fungalei (Forthworth, Texas), however a wide shot attempt by freshman Micaiah Vacciano (Sebastian, Fla.) and a second chance shot on goal by junior Brittany Fisk (Waterloo, N.Y.) would be all for the Tornados as Newberry's Bowman made a game saving save on Fisk's scoring attempt, preserving the Wolves 11-10 win.
The Tornados will look to pick up their first SAC win of the season this coming Saturday, April 1 as they ring in the new month with an April Fool's showdown with the Lincoln Memorial University Railsplitters at 7 p.m.