FREDERICK, Md. -- The Washington & Jefferson College women's lacrosse traveled to Maryland for its season opener and came up just short as the Presidents fell 14-12 to Hood College on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Presidents used four first-half goals from Sarah Labovitz (Great Falls, Va./The Bullis School) to build an 8-7 halftime advantage, however Hood scored three-straight goals to begin the second half and remained a step ahead of W&J the rest of the way.
 
The Blazers scored three times in the first eight minutes of the second half to take a 10-8 lead with 22:35 remaining.
 
W&J responded with an unassisted tally by Sofiya Bobrovnikova (Philadelphia, Pa./Northeast) to pull back within one at 16:57 left to play. Hood answered less than a minute later to push its advantage back up to two. Bobrovnikova answered again with 14:18 to play.
 
Hood responded with its second three-goal run of the half over a five-minute span to lead 14-10 with 6:32 left.
 
Labovitz powered the Presidents' final comeback attempt with a goal just 13 seconds later and one with 3:46 remaining to trim the margin to the final score of 14-12.
 
The first half saw W&J overcome a 4-2 deficit with a 4-1 run to take a 6-5 edge. Hood retook a 7-6 lead before back-to-back goals from seniors Alexis Miller (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) and Kayla Boulas (North Branford, Conn./North Branford) in the final 2:19 gave the Presidents a one-goal halftime lead.
 
Labovitz turned in an impressive debut with six goals, one assist, seven draw controls and four ground balls. She found the back of the net on four-of-five free position opportunities.
 
Bobrovnikova had three goals and three draw controls, while Boulas, Miller and Star Rosnick (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) each had one goal.
 
Sam Lenfesty (Frederick, Md./Frederick) returned to her hometown and registered nine saves between the pipes and a pair of caused turnovers. Senior Jenna Allen (Sanford, Fla./Seminole) had two GBs and CTs as well.
 
The team stats showed an evenly-played game as both teams finished with 17 turnovers and 16 successful clears. Hood owned slim advantages in shots (28-26), ground balls (18-14) and draw controls (15-13).
 
The Presidents hit the road again on Wednesday as they travel to Ohio to take on Marietta at 6:00 p.m.