GEORGETOWN, Ky. - The DU women's lacrosse team opened their 2016 season Saturday afternoon with a game against the No. 3 team in the NWLL, Georgetown College (Ky.). DU fought the tigers to a 7-7 tie at the break before Georgetown pulled away with five unanswered goals in the second half as the Panthers fell 12-9.

DU jumped out on top of the Tigers early as they took a 6-2 lead in the first 13 minutes of the game. Tara Pluger put the Panthers on the board just 21 seconds into the game on a feed from Hannah Maroe. Pluger then assisted on a Brooke Knoll tally at the 25:03 mark, and recorded her second of the game at 17:05 as DU held a four-goal lead early in the game. The Tigers responded immediately with four unanswered goals in a 1:08 span of the game to tie the game 6-6 with just over 14 minutes remaining in the first half.

The Panthers jumped out to the lead once again in the second half as Knoll scored her fourth goal of the game unassisted at the 27:48 mark and the Panthers led 8-7. The Tigers would battle back with five unanswered goals that gave DU their first deficit of the game as the Panthers found themselves trailing 12-8 with 4:32 remaining in the game.

Jessica Lemcke looked to spark the Panther comeback as she recorded her second of the game with 3:21 left on the clock, but the DU attack fell short. Knoll went on to lead all scorers with four goals with one assist. Pluger recorded two goals and two assists, and Lemcke totaled two goals for the game.

The Panthers held the slight edge (24-23) in ground balls led by Sydney Gray who had a game-high six. DU also held the edge in draw controls (13-10) with Maroe totaling five.

Alex Yates made the start in goal for DU and played the first 30 minutes of action, recorded two saves with one ground ball. Samantha Powers (0-1) relieved Yates for the second half of play to take the decision in goal for DU as she recorded three saves and one ground ball.