Fredericksburg, Va. - The N.C. Wesleyan women's soccer team fought rainy conditions at Mary Washington on Wednesday, dropping a tough 6-5 decision to the host Eagles at the Battleground. The Bishops built a 3-0 advantage over the first 31 minutes of play, but NCWC was unable to fight off a furious second half rally by the Eagles, who netted four goals in the period to steal the win. 

Wesleyan looked to be in control early as junior Jordan Forbess tallied the Bishops' first goal of the season off a cross from sophomore Sarah Cook in the 15th minute. NCWC later made it 3-0 with unassisted goals by junior Madeline Williams and freshman Cydney Nichols in the 29th and 31st minutes, respectively. UMW answered with a pair of goals before the half -- the first at the 35:59 mark and the second with just two seconds left in the period.

In the second half, UMW tied the score at 3-3 less than four minutes in, but the Bishops countered with Forbess' second goal of the day in the 50th minute to regain a 4-3 advantage. The Eagles were not phased, knotting another equalizer just 34 seconds later, but Wesleyan answered yet again at 61:25 on a Maggie Rankin tally from Ella Burkhart.

Unfortunately, the Bishops were unable to fight off a late UMW rally. The Eagles got the tying score from the foot of freshman Brooke Bauman at 75:39 and the eventual gamewinner from Grace Freidl at 86:17. Statistically, the Eagles held an 18-15 advantage in shots, and the Bishops led 4-3 in corner kicks. UMW goalkeeper Haley Randall made six saves in net, while Wesleyan's Ashley Major had seven stops for the Bishops.

Wesleyan (0-1-1) returns to action in New Jersey over the weekend with a pair of 11:00am matches at Stockton and Rutgers-Camden on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.