MOUNT VERNON – Cornell women's lacrosse team dropped their Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference opener Saturday afternoon at Van Metre Field at Ash Park. The Rams fell to the Knights of Wartburg College, 15-12.

Emily Beehler (SR/Nokomis, Fla.) did all she could to will the Rams (3-2 overall, 0-1 MWLC) to a victory. For the second time this season, Beehler tied the program high for goals in a game with seven.

It was a back-and-forth match until Wartburg (1-7 overall, 1-2 MWLC) managed to pull away in the final ten minutes of the game.

Beehler and Elizabeth Ott (SR/St. Paul, Minn.) led the Rams in the first half, combining for six of the Rams seven goals. Wartburg went into the half with just a one goal lead.

The Rams looked to be gaining momentum in the second half, after a 3-0 scoring run Cornell and getting their biggest lead of the match, 11-9, with 19:39 remaining.

Wartburg used a scoring run of their own to take back the lead and put the game away. The Knights rattled off four straight goals in less than a two minute span to go up 13-11.

Ellie Johnson and Bri Greiskalns led the Knight's offense with 11 combined goals.

Cornell scooped up more ground balls and completed more clears than the visiting team but was outshot 38-24. Wartburg took advantage of their six free position shots while Cornell had none.

Maddie Althoff (JR/Stillwater, Minn.) recorded the loss in Rams net, stopping 13 shots over the 60 minutes of action.

Coming up – The Rams will look to bounce back on Wednesday when they travel to Loras College in Dubuque to take on the Duhawks in MWLC action. Start time is 5 p.m.