ELMHURST, Ill. – After a tightly contested first half, the Elmhurst women's lacrosse team was outscored 6-1 in the second half in a 12-6 loss to the University of Dallas.
 
Grace Knoebel put Elmhurst (1-10) on the board first by turning defense into offense. She stole a pass from Dallas' goalkeeper near the net, picked up the ground ball, and then fired a shot home to put Elmhurst ahead early.
 
The two teams traded goals for much of the first half, with Knoebel tallying the first three for Elmhurst. The Bluejays stopped Dallas (4-11) on three of its first four clear attempts.
 
Dallas took its first lead at 4-3 on Lexi Leite's second tally of the game, but Elmhurst's Sam Sepke answered back on a free-position shot to knot the game at four. The Crusaders finished the half on a 2-1 run, taking a 6-5 advantage into halftime.
 
Elmhurst outshot Dallas 15-13 in the opening 30 minutes, but the teams were even in shots on goal (10). The Crusaders held the edge in ground balls (12-7), while the Bluejays led in draw controls (7-5).
 
After halftime, Dallas opened up a 9-5 lead by scoring three times in four minutes. Elmhurst's only second-half goal came from Krystyna Kotlinski who scored her fourth of the season.
 
Knoebel led the Bluejay attack with four goals, while Sepke and Kotlinski both added one. Annette Stidham totaled three ground balls. Megan Keener took the loss in goal, despite making 11 saves.
 
Leite was the key offensive cog for the Crusaders, totaling five goals, while a trio added two a piece. Gwen Mohler posted three assists, and Lizz Winkler took the win by stopping 13 shots and picking up five ground balls.
 
The Bluejays held the edge in draw controls (12-8) and free-position shots (8-5), while Dallas ended with a slight advantage in shots (28-26), turnovers (16-17), and clears (16-22, 12-17).
 
Elmhurst hosts North Central College on Wednesday, April 12 at 7:00 p.m.