BREVARD, N.C. – The Brevard College women's lacrosse team (2-3) narrowly fell in a one-goal contest, 9-8, to visiting Guilford College (2-3) on Friday afternoon at Ives-Lemel Family Field.
 
The Tornados, who fell behind 9-6 following five-consecutive Quaker goals, scored two goals within the last two minutes of action to cut the deficit to just one goal. However, Guilford was able to control the ensuing draw control and run out the remainder of the game clock to preserve its second win of the season.
 
Sophomore attacker Xan Hill paced BC's offense with four goals and an assist, while junior midfielder Emily Denaga added three goals, including both of Brevard's final scores of the afternoon. Paige Kneubuhler added a goal and two assists, rounding out BC's offensive output.
 
Brevard's defense caused a season-high 22 turnovers in the matchup, with Guilford committing 39 total turnovers to Brevard's 35 as both sides struggled with ball possession on the rainy day. Kneubuhler led BC's defense with 12 ground balls to go alongside three caused turnovers, while Kyla Smith Fondall (seven GBs) and Hill (six GBs) all contributed heavily to Brevard's 40 total ground balls in the game. Grace Blanton, Hill, Kneubuhler, and Madi Norris each caused three turnovers apiece.
 
Guilford won the battle of draw controls, 12-9, with Emma Garland possessing six draw wins. Hill led Brevard with three draw controls.
 
Guilford outshot Brevard 29-20 in the game, but BC led both the ground ball (40-32) and caused turnover (22-16) battles. Guilford went 18-for-28 on clear attempts, besting BC's 13-for-28 mark. The Quakers converted two of its three free-position shots, while BC went 2-for-6.
 
The visiting offense was paced by Riley Gravely, who scored four goals. Kylie Horn and Sam Keene (two goals) also had multi-goal outputs with Gravely scoring the eventual game-winner. Maggie Harnett added a goal and dished out two of Guilford's three assists, while Garland snatched up nine ground balls and Zenna Carson stopped 11 Tornado shots.
 
The first half proved low-scoring, with the Tornados holding a 2-1 lead after one period of play on a pair of Hill scores. Guilford answered back with two out of three goals in the second quarter, as things were deadlocked 3-3 at the halftime intermission.
 
Horn opened up the third quarter with a Quaker goal, but Brevard went on a 3-0 run with scores from Denaga, Hill, and Kneubuhler. The visitors gained momentum back by closing out the third stanza with back-to-back goals, tying the contest back up at 6-6 with 15 minutes left to play.
 
Guilford continued its scoring stretch into the fourth period by scoring three unanswered goals through the first eight-plus minutes of action. After a scoreless five minutes, Denaga scored a power-play goal at the 1:54 mark, and after a saved shot and a caused turnover by the Tornados, Denaga struck again off a Kneubuhler assist with 38 seconds left to play, as the deficit was all of a sudden trimmed down to just one goal. The Quakers were able to put the game on ice with a draw control win, as Guilford wound down the game clock and sealed the 9-8 victory.
 
The Tornados return to action next Wednesday, March 13 at 6 p.m., as Brevard faces Oglethorpe University in Atlanta.
 
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