The third-seeded St. Lawrence University women's lacrosse team scored five straight goals to end the fourth quarter, but their comeback efforts fell short, as the sixth-seeded Vassar Brewers topped the Saints 13-11 in the first round of the Liberty League Tournament on Tuesday afternoon in Canton, N.Y.

Morgan Arakelian led the Scarlet and Brown with four goals, one assist, two ground balls and one caused turnover. Rachel Burke finished with three goals and two assists, while Jacqui Cloutier scored twice and Liz Evans recorded one goal and three assists. Ellie Camp also scored once for the Saints. Maggie Green tallied five ground balls and three caused turnovers, while Kate Wilson also picked up five ground balls and Dana Fernandez won three draw controls.

After an evenly paced battle to start the game, the Saints and the Brewers were tied 4-4 with just over five minutes to play in the first, but Tess Billings gave Vassar the 5-4 edge after the first 15 minutes of play.

Burke scored her 20th of the season to open the second quarter and tie the game up 5-5, but the Brewers went on a five-goal run through the remainder of the second and the start of the third to build a 10-5 lead.

Burke scored again to stop the run with 6:13 to play in the third, but Vassar would score three more, including a woman-up goal from Lola Wright to lead 13-6.

It was all Saints after that, as the Scarlet and Brown attempted a fourth-quarter comeback. Camp scored the first, followed by three straight from Arakelian and one from Cloutier, as the Saints battled back within two, but time would expire in favor of the Brewers.



Maddy Kretten led the Brewers with four goals and an assist, while Kateri Sanseviro recorded three goals and two assists.

Raelynn Bovenzi made six saves for St. Lawrence and was relieved by Courtney Lynn. Lauren Johns made 11 saves for Vassar.

Both teams recorded 27 shots and the Saints held a 22-19 edge in shots on goal. The Saints also picked up 20 ground balls to the Brewers' 16, but Vassar finished with an 18-10 advantage in draws.

The Saints fell to 9-7, while the Brewers improved to 9-6 and will advance to play Ithaca in the Liberty League semifinals on Friday. St. Lawrence will have to wait to see if they receive an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.