The Oglethorpe women's lacrosse team hung tough against another SAA opponent Saturday afternoon at the Oglethorpe Track and Field, but in the end, the visiting Centre Colonels proved to just be too much as they pulled away from the Stormy Petrels 16-6.

The Petrels got solid performances from several players once again, and were playing with just 12 available players over the course of the game. Junior goalie Kelly Dutton made 13 saves on Centre shots, including eight in the first half. Meanwhile, the Petrels again had two players with two goals apiece on the afternoon. Junior defender Tate Davis and junior midfielder Michelle Vasques provided the tallies the Petrels, the former putting two of her three shots on goal and the latter six of her seven. Vasques also recorded three draw controls and three caused turnovers for her part, while Davis also caused three Centre turnovers. Other Oglethorpe goalscorers included junior midfielder Sydney Sparks and junior attacker Xenia Perry. 

Centre jumped out to a three-goal lead over the game's first 11 minutes, but the Petrels answered back with two goals over the next 1:30, as Davis scored at the 19:33 mark and Perry buried a free position shot at the 18:17 mark, making the score 3-2. Centre built it back up to a three-goal edge, but the Petrels got a free position goal from Vasques to cut that to 5-3 with 8:51 left in the first half. However, Centre went on a four goal run from that point and scored six of the last seven goals in the first half, Davis' goal with 4:06 left representing the only reprieve. Centre led 11-4 going into the halftime break.

In the second half, Centre scored twice to start the period, but Sparks came through with her goal with 23:10 remaining in the game, making the score 13-5 in favor of the Colonels. Centre scored twice more before Vasques netted Oglethorpe's final tally, an unassisted goal with 15:18 remaining in the game. 

The Petrels were outshot 41-22 over the course of the contest, including 29-16 on goal. Oglethorpe had 18 turnovers to Centre's 15 and the visitors won 15 draw controls to the home team's nine. The Petrels were good on clear attempts on the afternoon, converting 12-of-16 in that category. They were also 3-of-9 on free position shots.

"Possession is everything in this game and today we had difficulty in our decision-making," said Head Coach Marissa Giannerini. "We took a lot of first looks instead of setting into our offense and that hurt us. We are playing hard, now we have to learn to play smart, especially given the fact that we're playing without subs right now."

The Petrels will round out their regular-season schedule with a non-conference matchup against LaGrange on the Oglethorpe Track and Field Monday evening at 6:30 p.m. After that, they'll get set to travel to take on Sewanee on the road in Sewanee, Tenn., next weekend in the first round of the SAA playoffs.