HEMPSTEAD, NY -- A late Blue Hen rally fell short as the University of Delaware women’s lacrosse team couldn’t dig out of a big first half deficit and fell to No. 17 James Madison, 15-13, in the Colonial Athletic Association semifinals at Hofstra Universitiy's James M. Shuart Stadium Friday evening.

Delaware, which finishes the season with an 11-6 overall mark, was unable to overcome a game-high six goals from James Madison's Kelly Berger. After trailing by as many as eight goals in the second half, the Hens put forth a valiant comeback effort over the final 13 minutes but Madison’s early lead proved to be too much.

The Blue Hens scored eight of the games final 10 goals but lost a crucial draw control with 1:26 remaining in the game and the Dukes were able to run out the clock.

Freshman Nicole Flego, the CAA Rookie of the Year, and Courtney Aburn combined for six goals and two assists, while senior Katie Muth scored three goals as well in her final game in a Delaware uniform. Emily Schaknowski tallied two goals for the Hens and Amanda Jones and Casey McCrudden added a goal each for Delaware.

After Muth got the Hens on the board just over a minute into the game, the Dukes took control by scoring the next six goals of the game, including three straight from Berger.

The Hens would get back into the game with back-to-back goals from Casey McCrudden and Flego to cut the lead to 6-3, but Madison would strike back with two straight goals to bump the lead back to five. Flego would score her second goal of the first half at the 10:36 mark but the Hens wouldn’t score again and Madison added three more goals over the final 10 minutes to go into the break up 11-4.

In the second period, Muth got the Hens on the board with her second goal of the game. Back-to-back goals from Emily Haller and Maria Bosica gave James Madison their largest lead of the game of eight at 13-5. From that point on, Delaware put on a ferocious rally, scoring eight of the final 10 goals of the game.

Amanda Jones tallied her seventh of the season before Aburn scored consecutive goals to cut the Hens deficit to five. After a Lynlea Cronin goal at 8:46, the Blue Hens tallied consecutive goals again to get within four goals. Berger posted her sixth goal at the 2:43 mark but the Hens continued to rally.

Three straight goals in 50 seconds made the score 15-13 JMU with 1:26 remaining in the game. Annie Wagner, the CAA Player of the Year who was held to just one goal, won the next draw control and Madison was able to run out the clock and stop the Delaware run.

“We just ran out of time,” said Delaware head coach Kim Ciarrocca. “We are a young team and nerves played a factor in the first half. We had too many turnovers in the first half but we bounced back in the second period with aggressive defense. We can’t judge our season on just one game. There has been so much improvement from the spring and we are excited for the future of the program.”

The Blue Hens posted six more wins this season compared to last and only graduate three seniors.

James Madison will take on No. 1 seed Hofstra in the championship game Sunday at 1 p.m. Hofstra defeated Old Dominon 10-9 in the first game of the CAA semifinals. The winner of the championship will earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

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