RIVER FALLS, Wis. -- The College of Saint Benedict lacrosse team (2-2, 0-1 WIAC) suffered a 13-7 loss to UW-River Falls (7-2, 1-0 WIAC) on Wednesday, March 26. Despite two goals from junior Sami Hackley and first-year Izzy Bohlman, and three assists by first-year Lilly Fandel Thompson, the Bennies were unable to overcome a tough start in their first-ever WIAC game.

The Falcons jumped out to an early lead, going up 9-4 at halftime and extending it to 13-4 by the end of the third quarter. St. Ben's mounted a comeback with three goals in the fourth quarter but fell short in the conference road opener. With the loss, CSB now stands at 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the conference, while UW-River Falls improved to 7-2 overall and 1-0 in WIAC play.

Hackley, who now leads CSB with 12 goals, registered her 25th career multi-goal game and reached 102 career goals. Bohlman added two goals on five shots, four of which were on goal, bringing her season total to seven. First-year Ava Mosley scored her ninth goal of the season, while Kamryn Peterson added her third and Emma Osland her second, the latter of which marked her 49th career goal. Fandel Thompson's three assists were a career-high, bringing her season total to four.

In goal, Chloe Lewis recorded seven saves, bringing her season total to 22 and her career total to 314.

After UW-River Falls scored the game's first two goals, Hackley responded with CSB's first-ever WIAC goal off an assist from Merrill Delich at 6:58 of the first quarter. The Falcons then went on a 5-0 run, including three goals from Murphi Specht, to take an 7-1 lead. Peterson's goal at 6:23 of the second quarter, assisted by Fandel Thompson, briefly cut the deficit to 7-2. The Bennies closed the half strong, scoring twice in the final 38 seconds—Bohlman's goal came with 38 seconds left, and Osland's goal with just 12 seconds remaining cut the deficit to 9-4.

In the third quarter, UW-River Falls extended its lead to 13-4 with four unanswered goals. However, CSB fought back in the final quarter, with Hackley scoring unassisted at 11:37. Bohlman then tallied her second goal of the game at 9:32, assisted by Fandel Thompson, and Mosley scored at 9:07 off another assist from Fandel Thompson.

Overall, the Falcons held a 32-to-24 edge in shots, including 20-to-16 in shots on goals. UW-River Falls also held a 14-to-9 margin in draw controls while CSB forced 14 turnovers by the Falcons. In terms of clears, CSB was 19-of-26 while UW-River Falls was 23-of-31.

Next, the Bennies will head to Colorado Springs, Colo., to play Chapman College on March 29 and #19 Colorado College on March 30.