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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University women's lacrosse team fell short against league-leader and No. 17 East Stroudsburg, 10-8, in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) matchup on a sunny afternoon at Keystone Field on Tuesday.
 
The Golden Bears came out swinging to start the contest scoring four unanswered goals in the first 13:09 of play, capped by Sarah Gabriele (Felton, Pa./York Catholic)'s second straight goal with 16:51 remaining in the half, while holding East Stroudsburg scoreless for 21 minutes.
 
However, the Warriors responded fiercely with four unanswered goals of their own in the final nine minutes of the half to tie the contest at 4-4 just 18 before the horn.
 
East Stroudsburg (12-2, 8-1 PSAC) continued its run in the second half with five consecutive goals to take a 9-4 advantage with 14:54 left to play.
 
Kutztown (7-7, 3-6) showed signs of life quickly after, as Gabriele and Makayla Bowman (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) scored back-to-back goals within 1:28 of each other to cut the deficit to three with 12:28 left.
 
With the score at 9-6, the Warriors padded their lead with another insurance goal with 8:01 left to play.
 
KU refused to go down without a fight as it scored two goals in the closing minutes, but the Golden Bears were unable to pull within one.
 
With her game-high four goals as well as an assist, Gabriele moved into fourth in Kutztown's single-season history with 54 points and a tie for fifth with 41 goals.  
 
Notably, Gabriele also moved into third all-time with 104 career draw controls.
 
Courtney O'Neill (Stratford, N.J./Sterling) tied for a game-high with five groundballs while also causing three turnovers. She is now tied for second in caused turnovers (35) and tied for eighth in groundballs (51) in single-season history.
 
Freshman Destanee Watkins (Emmaus, Pa./Emmaus) continues to impress in her rookie campaign, as she tied her career-high with four groundballs and four caused turnovers, the latter of which was tied for a game-high.
 
Emily Smith (Philadelphia, Pa./Saint Hubert Catholic) tied Watkins with a game-high four caused turnovers, while also tying her career-high in groundballs with four.
 
As a team, KU's 18 caused turnovers were the most it has forced in a game since forcing 20 against Millersville on March 31, 2010.
 
In net, Abby Cox (York, Pa./West York) finished the contest with a season-high 12 saves, falling two shy of her career-high.
 
The Golden Bears will play their home finale this weekend against Indiana (PA) on Saturday at 1 p.m. Prior to the start of the contest, KU will honor O'Neill, Cox and Haley Romoser (Stewartstown, Pa./Kennard-Dale) as part of Senior Day.