Rome, GA – Southern Wesleyan fell to the Shorter Hawks on Tuesday evening in a 15-7 final score.

The Warriors took 42 shots with 33 shots on cage in the loss to the Hawks.  Caelyn Little led the team with nine shots on goal.  Ella McCowen followed with eight shots on goal.  McCowen led the Warriors with two goals.  Alexa Simpson, Hayley Billings, Emily Gregg, Taylor Townsend and Little each scored.  Little had three assists.

Southern Wesleyan won 10 draws in the game with Trinity Bowman leading the team with three.  Fianna Steves and Ella McCowen each won two draws.  Of the 19 caused turnovers, both Ella McCowen and Steves caused five.  McCowen went on to pick up seven ground balls.  Steves collected six ground balls and Taylor Townsend had five.

Ava Lombardi started the game in the cage for the Warriors.  She totaled 58 minutes and had eight saves.  Amanda Erikson also spent time in the cage.

Game Vitals

Final: Shorter 15, Southern Wesleyan 7

Records: Southern Wesleyan (1-8 / CC 1-3) Shorter (2-7 / CC 2-2)

How It Happened

The Hawks were first on the board as Alicia Nguyen got the ball into the cage.  The Warriors followed with an attack of their own as Ella McCowen, Caelyn Little and Hayley Billings each put up shots, but Alley Jones and the Shorter defense were able to knock each of the Warriors attacks away.  Shorter pressed on as Cassidy Jones and K Dwyer-Peppers each scored.  Southern Wesleyan's attacks paid off in the end as Ella McCowen scored back-to-back goals to keep the Warriors within one goal of the Hawks.

Shorter regained their two goal advantage early in the second quarter as Anderlyn Burford scored off a pass from Alicia Nguyen.  However, the Warriors came back to within one goal of the Hawks as Hayley Billings got the ball into the back of the cage.  Ava Lombardi thwarted some more shots on the cage.  A foul in the eight meter allowed Taylor Townsend to take a free position shot.  Townsend got the ball into the back of the cage to tie the game up at four.  In the final minute of the game Maddie Wallace and Cassidy Jones each scored to put the Hawks on top 6-4.

Southern Wesleyan looked to cut into Shorter's lead once again as Ella McCowen and Caelyn Little each put up shots.  Maggie Wallace attacked the cage, but Ava Lombardi was there to save her attack.  The Hawks continued to press ahead as Anderlyn Burford scored another goal for Shorter.  A foul in the arc allowed Caelyn Little to take a free position shot.  Little got the ball into the cage to put the Warriors within two goals of the Hawks.  With just under four minutes on the clock, Little got the ball over to Emily Gregg who quickly got the ball into the back of the net.

The Hawks pressed on as a goal by Cassidy Jones allowed them to take a four goal lead over the Warriors.  Taylor Townsend took a shot on the cage, but Alley Jones was there to keep the Warriors from cutting into the Hawks lead further.  Jones scored again to put Shorter ahead by six.  Trinity Bowman won the next draw and the Warriors transitioned the ball down the field.  Alexa Simpson collected the ball and got it into the back of the cage.  Shorter scored three more times to win the game in a 15-7 final score.

What's Next

Southern Wesleyan will return to Central, SC on March 19 as they host the Truett McConnell Bears at 5pm.  They will then travel to Wilson, NC on March 21 to take on the Barton Bulldogs.  On March 25, the Warriors will host the Emmanuel Lions on Childs Field.