HARRISONBURG, Va. - Despite playing two women down for the match, the Royals battled and almost picked up their first win of the season. 

EMU gave Bethany everything they could but the visiting Bison escaped Harrisonburg with an 8-5 win. The loss drops EMU to 0-2 while Bethany improves to 3-1, 0-0 PAC. 

Highlights

• Bethany got on the board first, taking advantage of an EMU turnover to take a 1-0 lead. The Royals answered back 30 seconds later to even things. After Courtney Crawford picked up a draw control, she sprinted past the defense to the back of the net, then came out to the goalkeeper's left and beat the Bison keeper to her bottom left to tie things at one. 
• Things stayed pretty even for the next few minutes but Bethany re-took the lead with a goal at the 11:51 mark. Two minutes later, Crawford evened things again, beating the keeper low again, this time on a free position shot. 
• The teams swapped goals, with Crawford picking up her first collegiate hat trick, this time off an assist from Grace Hughes, but Bethany scored right before the end of the quarter to take a 4-3 after one. 
• The Bison added to their lead with another goal at the 11:58 mark of the second quarter but Crawford added her second free position goal of the match to bring EMU back within two. The EMU defense, led by goalkeeper Cristal Narciso, played stellar in the final 2:50 of the second quarter and the entire third, keeping the Bison off the board and keeping things at 6-4 heading into the final frame. 
• Hughes picked up her second goal of the season at the 12:50 mark of the fourth quarter. After being fouled, she took a free position shot and beat the Bison keeper low to her right, to pull EMU within one. That would be as close as EMU would get, however, as Bethany would add two more in the fourth despite being outshot by the Royals. 
• Crawford led the way for the Royals with four goals while Hughes added a goal and an assist. Narciso finished with 10 saves. 

Postgame Words from Coach Russo

"I continue to be incredibly proud of our fight and for the resilience in our progam. Our defense came up big at many points in the game and we will get to work to have more shots up on the board. We look forward to seeing our Royals supporters at our next game against Sweet Briar." 

What's Next

EMU will be back on the field next Saturday, March 19, when they take on Sweet Briar at home. The match will start at 1 pm. 

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