The 2021 Bison women’s lacrosse season came to a close on Friday, April 30 after a tough 14-8 loss to Navy in Annapolis, Md. For the first time in 13 meetings, the Orange and Blue were looking to defeat Navy, but were unable to stop the Midshipmen scoring drive. The Bison needed the win at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in order to earn the South Division’s final spot in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament.

Entering the game, the Navy Midshipmen and the Bison were tied for third in the South Division standings with a 1-2 divisional record. Despite the final score, the Bison were able to hold their own as they led the Mids in twice in the first half with 2-1 at 18:32  and at 4-3 with 12:12 remaining in the half. Julia Bradbury ’21 and Taylor Kopan ’24 led the scoring drive in the first half.

However, after this scoring drive by the Bison, the Mids were able to respond with five damaging goals. Kali Peeples ’21 netted the first two goals in the second half to draw the Bison within range to top Navy, but then Mids scored three unanswered goals. For a period of almost 20 minutes in the second half, the Mids stopped the Bison’s scoring momentum and left the Orange and Blue with little time to make a comeback.

Score leaders for the Bison were Peeples and Caroline Walsh ’21 who each scored a hat trick. Goalie, Caitlin Tucker ’22 made a career-high 17 saves in the game against the Mids. In just the first half, Tucker stopped 11 shots.

Navy will now face second-seeded Lehigh in the South Division quarter final on Monday, May 3. The winner of that game will face North Division champion Army West Point on Thursday, May 6.

Despite the season-ending loss, the Bison had several huge victories for the program with wins over American (17-15), Colgate (13-11) and Lafayette (15-7) in head coach Jackie Dando’s second season.