GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Concordia-St. Paul women's lacrosse continues to be on the verge of a breakthrough win, carrying a fourth quarter lead on the road against a nationally-ranked opponent, only to come up short in a 12-10 loss at #23 Davenport on Sunday afternoon at DU Turf Field.
 
The Golden Bears, who fell to 4-8 overall and 0-3 in GLIAC play, were led by senior Delaney Davidson's six points as she had three goals and three assists. Freshman Maddy Seifert added four points, scoring three times with one assist, also adding a pair of caused turnovers.
 
Davenport moved to 9-1 overall and 2-0 in the GLIAC after Aaliyah Miller matched Davidson's six points, scoring a game-high four goals while adding two assists for the Panthers on a cold, windy day at their home stadium.
 
Concordia closes out a three game road swing through the GLIAC at Upper Iowa (0-5, 0-3 GLIAC) next Saturday, April 2 at 6 p.m. in Fayette in the first-ever meeting between the schools.
 
The Panthers scored the first two goals of the game despite Concordia's early dominance in the circle as the Golden Bears secured the first three draw controls of the game and five of the first six.
 
The consistent early control on the draw allowed Concordia to quickly erase the early deficit, flipping a 3-1 score in the first five minutes into a 5-3 lead early in the second quarter after leading 4-3 at the first quarter break.
 
In a second quarter that featured only four goals, including two in a row by the Panthers in the middle minutes of the second quarter, it was Seifert who netted a goal in the last minute of the first half to give Concordia a 6-5 lead at the break, her third of the contest.
 
Davidson's second goal of the day just over a minute into the third quarter extended Concordia's lead back to two goals, 7-5, CSP's second 2-goal lead of the day.
 
The Panthers responded with two in a row, but Concordia continued to hold the upper hand, with Taylor Preece breaking a 7-7 tie with a go-ahead goal with 4:36 to play in the third on Davidson's third assist of the day.
 
Davenport responded by tying the game less than a minute later before Davidson's third goal of the game and second of the quarter put Concordia back on top 9-8, carrying the lead into the fourth quarter.
 
From there, Davenport used its home field advantage to produce a 4-0 run in the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter, reclaiming the lead at the 11:22 mark of the fourth quarter for their first lead since midway through the first quarter and just their second lead of the game in a contest that featured five ties (3-3, 5-5, 7-7, 8-8, 9-9).
 
Preece scored her third goal of the game with just under five and a half minutes to go, but the Panthers were able to keep CSP out of the net the rest of the way with the Golden Bears not credited with any shots down the stretch.
 
In the final tally, Davenport flipped the draw to its advantage, 13-11, matching the final score margin, and held advantages 30-23 in shots, 14-8 in ground balls and committed two fewer turnovers (14) than CSP (16).
 
Molly Moynihan led Concordia with five draw controls with Mary Keating adding four as Moynihan also had a goal and an assist.
 
In the cage, Candace McDole had a strong performance in the first half, securing six saves with three in each quarter while producing a .545 save percentage. Maddy Huebner played the second half in the net and added three more saves for CSP, but was charged with the loss, falling to 3-2 in goalie decisions on the season.
 
Davenport goalie Maisy Latus went the whole way for the win for the Panthers, picking up eight saves including three in the fourth quarter to hold off the Golden Bears.