SALEM, Va. – The TCNJ lacrosse team saw its season come to a close in an NCAA national semifinal on Saturday afternoon at Roanoke College. The Lions fell to Middlebury, 13-9. Olivia Cleale led the Lions with three goals, and Kathleen Jaeger had two goals and two assists for a team-high four points.

The game started during torrential rainfall, and the Lions had to contend with the elements and a fast Middlebury start. The Panthers scored the first three goals of the game in the first 8:12 of action, but TCNJ fought back in the middle stages of the half. Cleale got the Lions on the board at 14:16 with an assist from Alexandria Fitzpatrick to make it 3-1. Fitzpatrick followed with a free position goal at 12:56 to make it 3-2, and Jaeger fed Kasey Donoghue to make it 3-3 at 7:04.

"I knew, even when we were down, that we were going to come back," TCNJ junior goalie Miranda Chrone said. "I think that our attack getting the momentum helped our defense in a way, because we always feed off each other."

Middlebury stopped the TCNJ run with a goal from Emma McDonagh just 1:03 after Donoghue's tying mark. The score stayed there until the intermission as both defenses locked down through the final six minutes of play in the first half.

Elizabeth Morrison nearly tied the game again early in the second half, but her shot hit the far post to keep the score at 4-3. Morrison finished her college career with four caused turnovers and two ground balls.

Middlebury opened the second half much like it did the first, scoring three straight goals. This time, the three tallies in the opening 7:06 of play pushed the Panthers' lead to 7-3. Allie Gorman and Jaeger sandwiched a Middlebury goal to cut the Lions' deficit to 8-5 with 19:03 left in regulation.

At that point, the TCNJ offense stalled, going 12 minutes without a goal. In that time, Middlebury scored three more times to make it 11-5 with 7:49 remaining in the contest.

TCNJ scored four times in the final 7:04 with Cleale netting a pair of goals. The Lions couldn't cut the lead to less than five until she scored with 46 seconds remaining to finish off the scoresheet with Middlebury holding a 13-9 advantage.

"Middlebury played great," TCNJ head coach Sharon Pfluger said. "Really every part of their game was on. I thought we had some really great moments, as well. If we tied it right after the half, that could have been that game changer, that momentum changer, but we hit the post."

Chrone made nine saves and recorded five ground balls. Fitzpatrick had two goals and an assist, and Gorman scored a goal while adding a team-leading three draw controls.

"I'm proud of our girls," Pfluger said. "They're our family, and win or lose, we're always proud of them."