NORTHFIELD, Vt. - In a monumental battle between a pair of Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) North Divisional foes, the Norwich University women's lacrosse team fell just short of securing a pivotal victory, falling to Colby-Sawyer College, 14-13, in the waning seconds of a Wednesday afternoon thriller on Sabine Field.

Leocadia Clark (Stowe, Vt.) led all scorers, rattling off a slew of impressive goals en-route to a five-point performance on four goals and an assist.  Athena Merck (West Yarmouth, Mass.) also logged a three-goal hat trick while Quinn Mustone (Medford, Mass.) tallied a pair of scores.  Julia Gutke (Stockholm, Sweden), Caitlyn Fielder (East Calais, Vt.), Ellie Moriarty (Stowe, Vt.), and Julia Proto (Orange, Conn.) rounded out the scorers, providing a goal each.

Back-to-back goals by the Chargers in the opening two-and-a-half minutes spurred swift momentum for the visitors, but was quickly neutralized by the Cadets, who responded with three-straight throughout the first period, courtesy of Mustone, Moriarty, and Proto.

A man-up goal from Colby-Sawyer in the closing minutes of the first stanza set into motion a dominant Charger run, however, as Hanson scored a pair of goals to ignite a 5-1 run by the visitors.  Stretching halfway into the second period, the Chargers maintained a 7-4 lead.

The Cadets did not go quietly, however, as Clark scored her first before Fielder struck 11 seconds later to bring the Cadets within one, 7-6, at the half.  Norwich ripped in four more goals within the first five minutes of the third frame, which included a pair from Clark, to capture a game-high three-goal lead.

Despite two answers from Colby-Sawyer, Moriarty found Gutke to keep Norwich's multi-goal lead alive.  Momentum slowly began swaying in Colby-Sawyer's favor, however, as the Chargers knotted the contest at 11-all and, despite Merck pushing the Cadets back ahead by one, reclaimed the lead at the 7:33 mark.

Facing a 13-12 deficit, Clark's heroics came to the forefront again, as she scored a game-tying tally with 1:20 left on the clock.  The game's final decision came with 28 seconds remaining, however, as Cecilia Ponzini capitalized on an extra-man opportunity before the Charger defense forced a late Cadet turnover after the final draw control, preventing Norwich from getting a potential game-tying shot off.

Norwich secured 19 draw controls, with Clark snagging seven of them while Fielder maintained five.  The Cadet defense generated 18 Charger miscues, led by Celine Juneau (Chazy, N.Y.) and Sarah Moshrefi (Leesburg, Va.), with the pair logging five and four caused turnovers, respectively.

Carlie Henning (Dawsonville, Ga.) played a full 60 minutes of action in the crease, making 10 saves.

Norwich's trek through North Divisional foes continues this week, as the Cadets travel to Standish, Maine, on Saturday, Apr. 20, to battle Saint Joseph's College of Maine.  Opening draw control is set for 2:00 p.m.