Raleigh, N.C. – The Transylvania women's lacrosse team fell to the Meredith University Angels, 17-8 on Sunday afternoon at Meredith Athletic Field.

Continuing the third match in a string of four straight contests away from home, the Pioneers were unable to stifle a pair of hot starts in each half by the Angels.

With the setback, the Pioneers dropped to 2-2 on the season while the Angels improved to 3-4 overall.

Meredith provided a rude welcome for Transylvania with three straight goals to open the afternoon.

Rachel Johnston stopped the run with the first goal of the day for the Pioneers with 23:14 left in the first half, slicing the Pioneer deficit to 3-1.

Meredith answered back with a corresponding goal, but Salem Carlow and Olivia Livingston both pierced the Angels' goal in the ensuing minutes to draw within one score at 4-3.

Meredith made the most of its increasing time in the attacking zone with four straight goals to close out the half for a 9-4 halftime advantage. The Angels continued the momentum into the second half with four unanswered goals to mirror their first-half start, building a 13-4 advantage.

The Pioneers found their footing with three straight scores, cutting down Meredith's lead to 13-7. Johnston found a pair of scores on free position shots around an unassisted goal from Carlow. Meredith countered with two more scores to regrow its lead to eight goals. Carlow added a late goal with under 10 minutes left to join Johnston in notching Sunday hat-tricks.

Courtney Pontious paced the Pioneers defensively with a team-high three caused turnovers and three ground balls and added four draw controls and two points.

Meredith outgained the Pioneers in ground balls, 31 to 13 while the Pioneers won the battle at midfield, securing 16 draws to 10 for the Angels.

Abi Waldron picked up the loss in goal for the Pioneers to drop to 2-2; the freshman claimed nine saves on the afternoon before giving way to fellow first-year goalie Elyse Blue, who worked the final 19 minutes and gathered four saves.

The Pioneers will finish off their four-game stand away from home on Tuesday, March 10 as they visit the Methodist University Monarchs in Fayetteville, North Carolina for a 4:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time contest.

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