WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Franciscan women's lacrosse game against Washington & Jefferson College was cut short by 12 minutes due to snow. It was the wrong half to shorten from the Lady Barons perspective, with FUS down 8-2 at halftime on their way to a 14-7 loss.

Before the snow started to fall, Franciscan got off to a slow start after winning the initial draw control. The Presidents scored seven straight goals before junior middie Lauren Noce ended the streak with an assisted goal from senior Jessica Bestgen with two and a half minutes left in the half.

"We got off to a slow start even though we had possession first. We were a little bit tired getting started," head coach Maura Conant said. "But they shook the dust off and at halftime we made some adjustments."

Those adjustments paid off immediately with FUS scoring the first three goals of the second half, bringing the score to 8-5. As was the case for most of the game, those goals came primarily from the team's vast improvements in the fast break game.

In the season's first two games, the transition from defense to offense was perhaps the team's weakest point; however, that aspect of the game proved to be the best for Franciscan's offense against the Presidents.

"In transition, the passing just keeps getting better," Conant said. "It's cool to see our efforts in practice coming out in the game."

While the goal differential was significant, the rest of the stats showed an evenly played game. The Lady Barons outshot the Presidents 25-22 and also finished with more ground balls, 22-19. The defining factor may have been the Washington & Jefferson goalie, who saved 10 shots in the first half alone.

Of the seven shots that did get past the W&J keeper, over half were scored by either Bestgen or junior attacker Tracy McClelland. Each scored two with Bestgen adding her one assist and five ground balls.

McClelland, one of the team's two leading scorers over the last two seasons, had one of her most effective games in terms of scoring this season.

"With Tracy's speed and being a lefty, she's always going to be a threat whether she's in the midfield or attack," Conant said.

Conant also said that while the team lost, she was happy overall with how they performed, keeping in mind they didn't have a practice since winning their first game of the year just two days before.

Her team will have just one day in between games once again as they travel to Waynesburg University on March 25 to take on the Yellow Jackets at 6 pm.