ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Despite a valiant effort, Houghton women's lacrosse couldn't overcome a six-goal halftime deficit as they dropped their Empire 8 opener, 11-8, on the road to Elmira.

After giving up the game's first goal with less than a minute gone, the Highlanders evened the score on a goal from Jennifer Zacchigna (East Aurora, NY, East Aurora ) just a minute later. But the Soaring Eagles tallied six-straight goals to take a 7-1 lead into the locker room.

Zacchigna scored again to open the second half before Elmira scored three-straight to push the lead to 10-2. Meghan Oswald (Penn Yan, NY, Marcus Whitman) scored at the 21 minute mark, the Soaring Eagles scored just a minute and a half later to make the score 11-3, but neither team would find the back of the net for the next 10 minutes. Oswald broke the drought with her second of the day, spurring a ferocious finish for the Highlanders. Torri Sperl (Saugerties, NY, Saugerties) scored 17 seconds after Oswald, Chandler Jones (Collegeville, PA, Spring-Ford) tallied her first just 23 second later, and the score was 11-6. 

Another six minutes passed before Oswald found the net for the third time on a man-up goal. Zacchigna scored 35 seconds later to pull Houghton to within 11-8 at the 1:47 mark, but that's as close as the Highlanders would get.

After getting outshot 19-7 in the first half, Houghton held a 15-12 edge in the second half. The Highlanders were also more effected on clears after the break, converting on 8-of-11 attempts. Ground balls went in favor of the Soaring Eagles, 27-18.

Kourtnie Franklin (Belfast, NY, Belfast) made 11 stops in just over 40 minutes. Alison Clark (Corning, NY, Corning) made three saves in 20 minutes.

Houghton (2-5; 0-1 E8)  hosts SUNY Canton on Thursday, March 31 at 5 p.m.