SPARTANBURG, S.C. – In its first home match of the 2021 campaign, the Wofford women's lacrosse team put out a hard-fought effort in front of a spirited crowd under the lights, seeing five different Terriers net goals on the night, though, the Blue Hose (1-1) used a dominant second half to pull away for the 16-9 victory at Gibbs Stadium on Thursday night.
 
The Terriers drop to 0-2 on the year, scheduled to compete next on Friday, March 5, when Wofford hosts preseason SoCon favorite Coastal Carolina for a 3 p.m. match at Gibbs Stadium.
 
Sophomore Olivia Abé held the hot hand for the Terriers on the night, recording a team-high six points with a career-best five-assist performance and a goal, while grabbing a career-high five ground balls on the night.
 
Four Terriers net two goals apiece in Shannon Wulff, Elisabeth Ralph, Emma Gentile and Leah Hurley. Gentile added four draw controls, three ground balls and one caused turnover, while Wulff registered five ground balls and a caused turnover as well. Ralph contributed with four ground balls and a draw control, as Hurley recorded three ground balls and two draw controls on the night.
 
Senior Hannah Wurzel led with a team-high five draw controls to pair with a caused turnover, while senior Tori Saylor was impressive on defense for the Terriers with four caused turnovers and a ground ball. Sophomore Brenna Duley grabbed a career-high four ground balls to couple with a caused turnover, as Emma Seif finished with thre ground balls and two caused turnovers.
 
Wofford kept things close in the first half, scoring the last three goals in the period to trail by two at halftime, 8-6.
 
The Blue Hose struck first blood within the first four minutes of play, though, Olivia Abé quickly found the equalizer in the 25^th minute to put the Terriers on the board, 1-1. The Blue Hose answered with a four-goal spurt to extend a 5-1 lead halfway through prior to Emma Gentile capitalizing on a free-position shot to make for a 7-2 margin with 12:01 left in the period. Abé went on to feed Shannon Wulff for Wofford's third goal (8-3), as PC would follow with their ninth score shortly after at 7:04.
 
Wofford then kicked things into gear with urgency, scoring three unanswered to head into the intermission with the slight momentum. Elisabeth Ralph started the run off after firing one in, off the feed from Olivia Abé , as Leah Hurley then took it in herself for her first goal of the year to cut the deficit to three, 8-5 (1:18). The Ralph-Abé connection then returned, as Abé found Ralph again for another Terriers goal with 23 seconds left in the period to summon the 8-6 differential at halftime.
 
Coming out the intermission, both teams were scoreless for eight minutes until PC connected on two consecutive goals to push the spread to 10-6. Another Blue Hose goals summoned a five-point lead, as Olivia Abé then dimed two goals for Shannon Wulff and Leah Hurley to give Wofford life in cutting the margin to 11-8 by the 14:33 mark.
 
However, PC would then find a second wind in going on to connect on five goals within the final 11 minutes to put things out of reach with 2:28 left, 16-8. Emma Gentile added a last-minute goal for the Terriers with 22 seconds left, though, PC would ultimately come away with the 16-9 victory at the final horn.