SALEM, Ore. – In the most intense back-and-forth battle of the season since their first matchup just last week, the Corban University Women's Lacrosse team (3-4) was unable to hold off Multnomah University (3-6) through the final 15 minutes of play in which the Lions outscored the Warriors 3-2 to break a 7-7 tie and emerge victorious for the first time ever as the road team at the Outdoor Athletic Complex.

"We are happy to have some good competition in our conference going into next year," Warriors' Head Coach Kylie McMinn shared earlier this evening. "We can't wait to use what we've learned from this season to continue to build this program."

When asked to sum up their 2023 season, McMinn continued with, "I'm so proud of these young ladies and all they've overcome this year. They've more than exceeded my expectations with their perseverance, and we've come out of it unified as a team and as a program."

After the Lions narrowly took their matchup last week in a 13-12 overtime nail biter, everyone knew these two evenly matched teams would once again come down to the wire for either squad to find a win condition.

Prior to the start of the match, Coach McMinn and the Warriors took a moment to honor their lone graduating senior of the class of 2023, midfielder Meredith Pinkerton, who suited up for the final time in the Navy and Gold clad uniforms.

In storybook fashion, Pinkerton led the contest off with the first shot and goal of the game for the Warriors to take a 1-0 lead in the first two minutes of action.

However, the Lions answered almost three minutes later with their own score and would go on to answer every Corban goal with one or two of their own for the entirety of the contest. Neither team was able to grow their lead more than a two-goal differential in what was an intense back-and-forth rally.

In the end, Multnomah's deeper bench proved to be the difference maker once again, as an exhausted Corban starting lineup was unable to keep up with the same speed and momentum that the rested Lions possessed down the stretch. Despite a late goal from sophomore midfielder Aleana Godoy with less than a minute and a half remaining, Multnomah was able to steal the draw away and play keep away over the final seconds remaining on the scoreboard to clinch the road victory.

Warriors' junior starting goalkeeper Payton Nuse recorded a season-high 20 saves in the net but was unable to keep one fewer ball out of the net in taking the loss for the team's final game of the year.

Lions' starting goalkeeper Kyndra Knuth picked up the win thanks to an eight-save, nine-goal appearance in between the posts for her third victory of the year.

Pinkerton ends her collegiate career with a two-goal, solo-assist evening on the pitch, while sophomore attacker Megan Lia recorded yet another hat-trick and assisted on three more goals, making her responsible for two-thirds of Corban's goals today.

Responsible for half of Multnomah's goals this evening was midfielder Aviana Gonazales, who tallied five goals on 12 shot attempts, all of which came on goal against Nuse. Midfielder Payton Wangler added two goals and an assist in the Lions' efforts.

The Corban Women's Lacrosse team finishes the 2023 regular season with a 3-4 overall record in their third full year as a program, with all but Pinkerton set to return in 2024 in what was an extremely underclassmen heavy roster this season.

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