Lions fall short to Barton

MARS HILL, N.C. - The Mars Hill women's lacrosse team lost 12-8 to Barton on Friday afternoon at the Ammons Family Athletic Center and Meares Stadium. Olivia Hokanson had a team-high four goals.

Hokanson picked up where she left off from the first women's lacrosse game in Mars Hill school history on February 10 when she scored the first Lions goal of the day at the 5:29 mark of the first half. The goal gave Mars Hill the 1-0 lead for over ten minutes before Jenna Brunclik's first of the game at 16:57 knotted the game. Just over four and a half minutes later, Kayli Ashenfelter scored her fifth of the season to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 edge. Ashenfelter and Brunclik would strike again with 6:58 and 6:19 remaining in the half, respectively. Angelina Scarpa furthered the Barton lead with her fifth of the season and fifth Bulldogs' goal on the afternoon with under four minutes to play in the first half. Mars Hill's Kiersten Foust cut the lead to three with her fifth of the season off of a free position.

The Lions entered the half down 5-2 in an evenly played 30 minutes. Barton had 14 shots on goal to the Lions' 13 and both Alexandria Holleran and Katherine Mattena made six saves.

In the second half, both offenses ramped up their production. Barton scored the first three goals of the half, including two by Brunclik and the hat-trick goal from Ashenfelter, all in the first five minutes of the half. Foust broke the Bulldog's streak momentarily with her second of the game, but Barton battled back, scoring the next two goals. Leading 10-3, Barton allowed Hokanson to score her sixth of the season with 16:43 left in the game to pull the Lions within six. Just over two minutes later, Aryanna Fahnestock reestablished the seven goal advantage. 

Over the final 12 minutes, Mars Hill pushed back, scoring four of the next five goals. Hokanson's two unassisted tallies less than a minute apart pulled the Lions within five only to be interrupted by Brunclik's sixth of the afternoon and 14th goal of the season with 10:29 left in the game. Over six minutes would go by before the Foust completed her hat-trick. With 2:22 left, Taylor Burgess converted a free position attempt to pull the Lions within four, but ultimately the comeback effort was too little, too late.

Brunclik (6g) and Scarpa (1g, 5a) led all players with six points on the day. Ashenfelter ended the contest with three points (3g).

Hokanson racked up another four goals to give her eight on the season. Foust finished with the hat-trick.

Holleran made 10 saves in the losing effort while Mattena stopped 12 Mars Hill shots.

The Lions suffer their first defeat and fall to 1-1 while Barton improves to 2-1 on the season.

Mars Hill returns to the Ammons Family Athletic Center and Meares Stadium for a game versus Concordia-St. Paul on Wednesday, February 28. The action is slated for a 3 p.m. start.