BANGOR, Maine—The Norwich University women's lacrosse team dropped a close 11-10 decision to Eagles of Husson University on Thursday afternoon in non-conference action.  It marked the season opener for the Cadets, while the Eagles improve to 1-1 on the season.

Junior Grace Fitzpatrick (Falmouth, Maine) led the Cadets with six goals. Freshman Larissa Gokey (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) scored twice in her first collegiate outing, while sophomores Emma Smith (Patterson, N.Y.) and Hope Royce (Washingotn, Vt.) both added single scores.

Both teams traded goals for most of the first half, as neither team trailed by more than two goals.  The Cadets took the biggest lead of the half at 6-4 on an unassisted goal by Royce with 6:55 to play, but Husson scored the final three goals of the half to take a 7-6 lead at halftime.

Fitzpatrick evened the score at 7-7 at the 24:19 mark of the second half.  Husson's Haley Huntington responded with a goal to give the Eagles the 8-7 edge, but Norwich saw three-straight goals by Gokey, Smith and Fitzpatrick to put the Cadets ahead by two with 8:53 to play.

Husson scored at the 5:53 and 5:26 marks to even the score at 10-10, marking the seventh tie of the game. Neither team would score for the next 2:15 until Husson's Caitlyn Stauffer netted the game-winning goal with 2:11 left in the half.

Huntington led the Eagles with six goals.  Stauffer added two goals and two assists, and Charlotte Gerhady also added two goals.

Freshman Cheyenne Mata-Notel (East Hampton, N.Y.) registered her first collegiate start in net for the Cadets and stopped four of the 11 shots she faced.  Rebecca Horgan (Topsfield, Mass.) took over at the start of the second half and totaled eight saves. Chelsea Kondratowicz stopped just three shots in net for Husson. The Cadets were outshot 27-14 by the Eagles.

Norwich posted a 13-9 advantage in draw controls on the afternoon and totaled 26 ground balls.  Junior Emily Shrum (Park Hill, Md.), Fitzpatrick and freshman Chandler Camlin (Stamford, Conn.) all finished the afternoon with four ground balls each. Husson's Michaela Bicknell totaled a game-high six ground balls.

The Cadets return to action on Sunday, when they travel to take on Anna Maria College at 1:00 p.m. for the first Great Northeast Athletic Conference matchup of the season.