KUTZTOWN, Pa. - The Kutztown University women's lacrosse team fell to Seton Hill, 14-10, in its season-finale on Friday afternoon at Keystone Field in what turned out to be a back-and-forth battle for the majority of the contest.
 
Kutztown (7-10, 3-9 PSAC) trailed 3-0 out of the gate as Seton Hill (7-9, 6-5) scored three times in the first 4:24 of the first half. Fortunately, KU scored four of the final six goals of the half and only trailed 5-4 at intermission. Lauren Huggins (Media, Pa./Penncrest), Emily Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Saint Hubert Catholic) and Sarah Gabriele (Felton, Pa./York Catholic) scored KU's final three goals of the half to put the team within striking distance.
 
The Golden Bears started out the second half strong, scoring two of the first three goals in the first four minutes of action. Huggins connected for her second goal of the game at the 28:23 mark in the half, while Smith also scored her second at the 26:39 mark to tie the game at 6-6.
 
The last 25 minutes of the game featured two huge runs for the Griffins and one for KU. Seton Hill scored three consecutive goals from the 23:05 mark to the 22:19 mark in the half to take a 9-6 lead over KU.
 
Kutztown struck right back with three goals of its own to tie it up at 9-9 with just over 16 minutes to play in the game.
 
Unfortunately for KU, the Griffins went on a 5-0 run in the last 15 minutes of the game to take a 14-9 lead and hold the Golden Bears at bay. Kutztown managed to score the final goal of the game as time ran out as Huggins netted her fourth goal of the game on a great pass from Gabriele.
 
KU finished the game with decisive advantages over Seton Hill in ground balls (29-16) and free-position shots (12-3). The Griffins turned the ball over 18 times, compared to just 15 for the Golden Bears.
 
Huggins, Gabriele and Smith combined for all 10 of KU's goals. Huggins connected for a team-high four, while Gabriele and Smith each had three. Gabriele and Smith both had four draw controls for KU. Abby Cox (York, Pa./West York) started in goal for KU, posting 10 saves. She has 160 career saves, fourth-most in KU history.
 
Lauren Schmidt (Hanover, Pa./South Western) and Courtney O'Neill (Stratford, N.J./Sterling) tied for the team-high with five groundballs. Huggins recorded four, while senior Cara Lord (Media, Pa./Penncrest) and Cox each had three.
 
Gabriele and Huggins both reached several milestones this season in what turned out to be a very successful campaign for the Golden Bears.
 
Gabriele finished the 2016 season with 49 goals (second in KU history), 18 assists (fourth) and 54 draw controls (first). She heads into her junior season with career totals of 82 goals (seventh), 23 assists (ninth), 105 points (eighth) and 78 draw controls (fifth).
 
Huggins concluded her impressive sophomore campaign with 41 goals (fourth), 20 assists (third) and 61 points. For her career, she has 51 goals (12th), 29 assists (fifth), 80 points (ninth) and 77 ground balls.
 
O'Neill was impressive for KU on defense for the third-straight season. She posted totals of 46 ground balls, 38 caused turnovers (most all-time) and 37 draw controls (seventh). O'Neill heads into her senior season ranking near the top of the KU all-time leaderboard in career ground balls, draw controls and caused turnovers.
 
In her three-year career, O'Neill has 90 draw controls (third), 105 caused turnovers (first) and 163 groundballs (third).
 
KU says farewell to two seniors on the 2016 team. Lord and first-year player Riley Patrone (Downingtown, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) were the lone seniors on the team, which featured 16 underclassmen.
 
Patrone appeared in one game for KU, while Lord capped off her memorable career with two goals and seven assists in 17 games.
 
Lord appeared in 66 games during her KU career, third-most in team history. She posted career totals of eight goals, 21 assists (10th), 54 ground balls and 17 draw controls.
 
The Golden Bears wrapped up their 2016 season with seven wins, including three in the PSAC. Both of those marks are the most for the team since the program was reestablished in the 2008 season.
 
Kutztown will look to build upon its successful season as it returns 18 of 20 players for the 2017 season.