WAYNESBURG, Pa. – Senior Ashley Ruttencutter scored twice but the Lady Barons couldn't overcome an onslaught of corner kicks goals, losing on the road to Waynesburg College 4-2.

After a convincing 4-0 win over Chatham University a few days earlier, Franciscan played a underwhelming first half as they struggled to adapt from Chatham's small, fast playing surface to Waynesburg bigger, slower field.

"Across the board, our passes were off. It was a much, much larger field than we've ever trained on and that was a difficult transition for us," head coach Clare McBane said. "That really threw off the girls' passing and every pass just wasn't quite to foot."

The first half was particularly deflating for FUS who, despite holding control of the ball through a majority of the first 45 minutes, found themselves outshot 10-2 and outscored after the first of three Yellow Jacket goals off of corner kicks.

"I think it was really discouraging for them when that first goal went in because the ball wasn't even on our side of the field most of the half. We let up one corner kick and it went in," McBane said.

Franciscan was able to rally in the second half with crisper play and outstanding individual effort from two-time All-Conference player Ruttencutter who scored both goals off of free kicks.

The midfielder was missing a couple of her key offensive counterparts with freshman midfielder Katie Cocozza and junior forward Hannah Cooke out due to injury. Without their presence, Franciscan was unable to finish scoring opportunities in the second half despite outshooting the Yellow Jackets 5-2.

"Ruttencutter's shots were beautiful, beautiful goals but there were no goals where we just finished in play, which is something we did really well against Chatham," McBane said. "We struggled to get the chemistry we had before and we struggled to finish."

The loss is also tough in perspective to last year season opener, a 2-1 win over Waynesburg, but McBane said the main thing to take away is not to be complacent and start games so slowly.

"I'm proud of them for stepping up in the second half to a certain degree," McBane said. "But they're too good of a team, and they're too mature to let themselves get into such a hole in the beginning."

Franciscan will continue their four-game road test as they travel to St. Vincent College on Sep. 7 to take on the Bearcats at 1 p.m.