COLUMBUS, Ohio – On a dreary day at Bernlohr Stadium, the Capital University women's lacrosse team witnessed its season come to a close after falling to Baldwin Wallace University, 8-6. Saturday's loss eliminates the Crusaders from the postseason. They finish the season 10-4 overall, 3-3 in OAC play.

Capital ends the season with a 3-3 conference record, tied with Otterbein University. However, the Cardinals hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Capital after defeating them earlier this season.

Saturday's match served as one of the most physical the Crusaders had endured this season. Baldwin Wallace used a possession-style strategy to pick its spots and added a stout defense to the mix, leading to the win.

Capital broke off a hot start, scoring four of the game's first five goals. Junior Kim Hoerauf (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) made her season debut after an injury had kept her off the field all season. Hoerauf made a splash by scoring the game's first goal with 23:18 on the clock.

Baldwin Wallace (7-5, 4-2 OAC) won the ensuing faceoff and drove down the field to score a goal 11 seconds later, but then Capital rattled off three straight goals to build a 4-1 lead. Hoerauf scored again while on the man-up to bookend those four goals.

Out of a timeout, the Yellow Jackets turned up their offense and slowed the tempo for the remaining 15 minutes. Katie Kocher, Maddie Russell and Victoria Budzyn all scored goals in succession to tie the game going into halftime.

Capital continued to battle the elements and the Yellow Jackets as a steady and inconvenient rain fell to the turf while wind sent chills down the spines of all in attendance. All the while, Baldwin Wallace continued to meticulously attack while killing the clock. They scored twice more before freshman Victoria Husain (Westerville, Ohio/South) broke a streak of five straight BW goals.

Miranda Stellini (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) scored off of a feed from Korri Titus (Pickerington, Ohio/North) with 12:32 to go, but Baldwin Wallace scored a minute later and continued to control the clock to take away Capital's offense. The Yellow Jackets also freshman standout Kara Hines out of the score column for the entire game, limiting Capital's chances.

The Crusaders made a series of late pushes following multiple BW turnovers while attempting to push the ball up the field. With two minutes remaining, Regan Hanood charged the cage and put one in the back of the net, but the goal was waived off for an illegal stick. While Capital had one more chance to score, the effort did not net a goal.

Sophomore Shannon Walton (Fairview Park, Ohio) led the defense with four ground balls and was one of three Crusaders to the lead the team with three caused turnovers.

Sophomore goalkeeper Maddie Wilson (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) made eight saves on 16 chances, and added two ground balls and three caused turnovers.