Delaware, Oh. – The Transylvania women's lacrosse team fought to the wire against the Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops on Saturday but ultimately fell after a highly admirable defensive performance.

Abbey Peterson got the scoring going on the day, with a player up tally at the 13:21 mark. The Battling Bishops tied the game just over a minute later, but Transylvania locked down defensively and kept the score there. Mandi Rider scored on an assist from Linley Dawson, and Ysa Leon notched another in the final minute of the quarter. On the road and against a strong opponent, who stood at 9-1 going into the game, the Pioneers led 3-1 going into the second.

Ohio Wesleyan scored the first goal of the second quarter, but Rider put another home for her second of the half, giving Transy a 4-2 lead. In the final five minutes of the half, the Battling Bishops finally broke through with two goals as the game was all tied up, 4-4, at halftime.

Unfortunately for the Pioneers, Ohio Wesleyan kept up the momentum in the third quarter as they scored three straight goals to go up 7-4. First-year Amara Wagner, in just her second career start in goal after playing the position in an exhibition against Asbury, had an outstanding performance keeping the game close. Despite the Pioneers being heavily outshot in the quarter, Wagner made 11 saves in just the third alone.

Charlotte Green scored a huge goal to cut the deficit to 7-5, but the Battling Bishops scored again late in the quarter, to lead 8-5 with one period to go.

In the fourth, Wagner and the Pioneers continued to put up a valiant effort defensively. After nearly 10 whole scoreless minutes, Leon found the back of the net at the 5:27 mark, giving Transy life down by two. The Pios kept fighting but in the final minutes the Battling Bishops held them off the board and tacked on key insurance goals to win the game 11-6.

Rider and Leon finished the day with two goals apiece. Wagner made 22 huge saves in the game with a highly impressive total save percentage of 0.667, thwarting the Ohio Wesleyan attack for much of the afternoon.

The Pioneers are back in action on Wednesday, April 6, as they take on Centre College in Danville with a 7:00 PM scheduled start.

For more information on Transylvania women's lacrosse, follow @TransyWLax on Twitter.