The Oswego State women’s lacrosse team was unable to complete a late rally against Utica College, falling 7-6 on Wednesday afternoon at Laker Field.

Trailing 7-3 with just over five minutes remaining in the game, Oswego State began its rally on senior midfielder Bri Borrow’s second goal of the game. Junior attacker Rachel Raffa cut the lead to two with 2:53 remaining on her second goal of the game, which was also her team-leading 15th of the season.

Junior attacker Erin Cummings won the ensuing faceoff for the Lakers, and after both teams traded possessions, Cummings scored off a pass from junior midfielder Liz Conrad to pull Oswego State (2-1 overall) within one goal with 28.1 seconds remaining.

Conrad won the following faceoff to give the Lakers one final attempt to tie the score and send the game into overtime. Unfortunately for them, freshman midfielder/attacker Courteny Cosentino’s final second shot was blocked and time expired.

"It was a close game," Oswego State head coach Brandi Ostrander said. "It was a game that I think we should have won, but it came down to the last five minutes. It was a battle back and forth both ways."

Although they trailed for most of the contest, the Lakers struck first on Raffa’s first goal just over four minutes into the game. The Pioneers (3-1 overall) answered back on senior attacker Lilly Fleskes’ first of her game-high three goals.

The teams traded goals once again with Cummings scoring for Oswego State and senior midfielder Tammy Kohanski doing the same for Utica. Kohanski also recorded a game-high three assists.

Fleskes got another shot past Oswego State goalie Ashlee Engel to give the Pioneers a 3-2 advantage, which they would hold on to going into halftime. Engel played the entire game in goal, finishing with 15 saves.

The Lakers will begin conference play at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 2, as they will travel to SUNY Cortland to face off against the Red Dragons.