The University of Mary Washington women's soccer team fell behind early and nearly came all the way back to knot the score, before falling to Washington & Lee University, 3-2, in the opening game of the UMW Soccer Classic on Saturday afternoon at the Battleground. The Eagles slip to 1-2 on the season.
The Generals opened the scoring at 21:15 on a score from Grace Wielechowski, on an assist from Kristen Castle. WLU opened the lead to 2-0 less than three minutes later, as Wielechowski waeved a pass through the defense to Sydney von Rosenberg, who connected to up the margin to two, which is where the margin stood at halftime.
In the second half, WLU added a third tally at 52:18 on a score from Erin Hoeh, unassisted. The Eagles bounced back with a score at 64:33 from Anna Longacher, and senior Brielle Mitchell cut the final deficit to one in the final minutes, scoring on a Chelsea Dougherty assist at 88:18.
The Generals led in shots, 13-11, as well as corner kicks, 4-3. Grace Coombs gained the win in goal for W&L, making four saves, while Allison Nork made four saves and freshman Aly Holden added two in 29 minutes of scoreless relief.
The Eagles will host Bridgewater College on Sunday at 3 p.m. in the finale of the classic.