STEUBENVILLE - Franciscan women's lacrosse capped off the best season in program history with an 11-0 shutout of Hanover on Senior Day.

"I am so grateful for the unique contributions our four seniors have made to building our program," head coach Maura Conant said. "We could not ask for a better way to send them off. I love each of them and they will be so dearly missed."

While the defense struggled in the previous two games, particularly against St. Vincent, the first 19 minutes against the Panthers featured a lot of defensive action. Both goalies had a strong start to the game, combining for seven saves before Franciscan netted the game's first goal with 11:28 left in the first half.

"We had some setbacks on defense during our last game, and so our defenders and midfielders were determined to improve this game," Conant said.

The defensive improvements were noticeable as the Lady Barons went 12-for-12 on clears in the first half, finishing 21-for-25 overall on the game, and caused 14 of Hanover's 27 turnovers.

Senior attack Tracy McClelland scored the first of her four goals against the Panthers at the 9:33 mark in the first half while fellow seniors Margaret Gargulinski and Lauren Noce also scored on Senior Day. Senior defender Emily Bedard also finished out her last game in a Lady Baron uniform with one caused turnover.

"The girls wanted it so badly for Meg, Tracy, Emily and Lauren," Conant said. "They love one another and will fight til the end."

Rounding out the scoring for the Lady Barons was Carly McDonald with two goals and Elizabeth McEntee, Mary Krolicki and Liz Dawyot with one goal each.

McEntee and fellow freshman Elizabeth Jordan tied for the team lead in ground balls with three apiece while Krolicki led in draw controls and caused turnovers with three each.

Freshman goalie Savannah Jane Duncan finished off her first collegiate lacrosse season with 10 saves and a shutout.

Franciscan led every single statistical category over the Panthers, most notably in clears as Hanover only finished 13-for-23 on clear attempts. The Lady Barons also committed a season-low in turnovers with 17, which was 10 fewer than their opponents.

Bedard, Gargulinski, McClelland and Noce are the first four-year seniors to come through the program and have been instrumental to the Lady Barons' success, especially in setting a new program record in wins this year. Therefore, it was only fitting that the four seniors were a part of the program's first-ever shutout on their Senior Day.

The Lady Barons finish up the season with an 8-5 record and will look to continue to move forward in the program next year.

"The seniors have helped build the foundation of this program literally from nothing four years ago to what it is now," Conant said. "I'm excited to see how our program will continue to grow with our 2016 incoming freshmen and returners next season. A final shout out to my seniors, though, - be where your feet are."