The 14th ranked University of Mary Washington women's lacrosse team dropped a 9-8 decision at 13th ranked St. Mary's College on Saturday afternoon in the semifinal of the Capital Athletic Conference Tournament. The Eagles fall to 14-4 on the season.

St. Mary's reached the scoreboard first, scoring just under two minutes into play, but the Eagles answered with 23:39 left on an Ashlyn Dacey goal assisted by Sabrina Elliott. Just 27 seconds later, the Eagles seized the lead with a goal from Mackenzie Maguire on a free position shot.

The Seahawks tied the score at 2-2 with 18:30 remaining, but UMW went back ahead on an Emily Mott score with 17:50 left, and extended its lead to 4-2 on a Dacey free position shot with 16:55 left.

The Eagles saw SMC cut the deficit to one at 4-3 with 15:43 to go, but Maguire scored with 11:50 left on a Holly Hudsopn assist. After a Seahawk goal cut the margin back to one, Dacey scored again with 7:06 left. St. Mary's scored a pivotal three straight to close the half, and carried the lead into halftime at 7-6.

Scoring became a premium in the second half, as both defenses stiffened. Dacey scored the first goal of the half ten minutes into play to tie the score, and Maguire followed with another with 18:26 to go, giving UMW the lead at 8-7.

St. Mary's knotted the score with a goal with 3:57 left, and netted the eventual game winner with 2:11 on the clock.

The Eagles led in shots, 30-18, and draw controls, 13-6. UMW also won the ground ball battle, 23-19. Freshman Hanna Ashby had four saves for the Eagles, while Kayla Dunn made 13 saves for St. Mary's.

UMW will now await a possible NCAA Tournament bid. Announcements for the tournament will come after next weekend.