The Oglethorpe women's lacrosse team hung with Birmingham-Southern for much of the game Saturday afternoon in Birmingham, Alabama, but the homestanding Panthers pulled away late for a 22-13 victory. The loss dropped the Stormy Petrels to 3-8 on the season overall and 0-3 in SAA play.

With the score 9-7 at halftime, Birmingham-Southern opened the second half with three consecutive goals, pushing out to a 12-7 lead with 23:18 remaining. Senior midfielder Tate Davis answered with a marker of her own off a free position shot with 22:22 remaining. However, the Panthers continued their run and added five consecutive goals over the next nine minutes to build a 17-8 advantage. Junior midfielder Juliana Altman scored a man-up goal off an assist from Davis with 12:15 left and Davis followed with another goal with 9:44 remaining. After back-to-back Panther goals, the Petrels responded with three consecutive goals, as Altman finished a free position shot, Davis scored a man-up goal, and senior defender Morgan McGhee all found the cage. With only 1:10 remaining in the game, though, there wasn't enough time to complete a comeback.

Birmingham-Southern got off to an 8-3 lead in the first half, with a couple of goals from freshman midfielder Madison Goss and another goal from senior midfielder Sydney Sparks during that run. However, Oglethorpe ended the half on a 4-1 run, pushing themselves right back into the game. Sparks scored with 13:16 left and then, after a Panther answer, got consecutive goals from Altman off assists from Davis and Goss and got another marker from Sparks with 26 seconds left in the half, cutting the Birmingham-Southern lead to 9-7. 

Altman led the Petrels with four goals on the afternoon while Davis and Sparks each tallied a hat trick. Davis also passed out two assists, six ground balls, and five draw controls, while Sparks also picked up five draw controls. Freshman goalie Daniel Hoban also recorded 11 saves on the afternoon.

The Panthers outshot the Petrels 43-26, including 33-20 on goal. The Petrels did nearly match the Panthers in ground ball pickups, recording 23 of them to Birmingham-Southern's 24. They also picked up 15 draw controls, though Birmingham-Southern recorded 22. 

"I thought we played well in stretches against a good Birmingham-Southern team," said Oglethorpe head coach Marissa Giannerini. "We'll come back home for Senior Day next weekend and look to put it all together on Saturday. Also, we'll look forward to honoring our seniors on that day."

The Petrels will return home for Senior Day Saturday at 11 a.m., when they take on Hendrix at the Oglethorpe Track and Field. After that, they'll hit the road for the remainder of the regular season against LaGrange, Berry and Centre.