DALLAS, PA (May 1, 2019) -- The King's College women's lacrosse team outscored No. 1 seed and host Misericordia University 4-2 in the second half, but couldn't overcome the first-half deficit as the Monarchs fell to Misericordia 17-4 in the semifinals of the 2019 Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) Tournament. 

The first half didn't go the way of the Monarchs, as the pressure defense from the Cougars disrupted the King's offensive attack. In the second half though, King's would start to play its game, as Emma Lehman scored at 25:07 to go in regulation to get the offense going.

After Misericordia tallied, freshman Emily Sims scored an unassisted goal with a nice move on a defender while her shot snuck into the near post. King's kept the momentum going, thanks to a nice caused turnover by Sims, and sophomore Kylie McCarthy picked up the free ball. After a shot attempt, McCarthy earned a free position attempt and buried the shot to pull King's closer. 

The King's defensive unit was very strong in the second half, as the Monarchs surrendered just two goals, and freshman Jen O'Connor put the box on a brilliant freshman campaign with her 51st tally of the season. O'Connor finished her freshman season with 51 goals and 27 assists, both freshman records at King's. 

The second half saw King's earn a 4-3 edge on draw controls, while forcing the Cougars into nine turnovers. Sophomore Orla Cottell, who finished with 10 saves to become the first goalkeeper in program history with 200 saves in a season, made six of her stops in the closing 30 minutes. 

McCarthy finished the evening with five ground balls, three caused turnovers and two draw controls, while Cottell added three loose ball pickups and a caused turnover. Sims played tenaciously all night, posting three caused turnovers and four draw controls, and O'Connor added four draw controls and a team-leading five shots. 

Sophomore Helen Zaremba added a caused turnover and ground ball, and Kelly Pierce played tough before an injury while posting a caused turnover and ground ball. 

Misericordia was led by the four goals and an assist by Kaila Quinlivan. The Cougars will play FDU-Florham for the fifth straight season in the MAC Freedom finals, as FDU-Florham knocked off DeSales University 16-1 in the other conference semfinal Wednesday. 

The Monarchs finish the 2019 season 6-13, but return 17 of the team's 18 players next season. King's also made the MAC Freedom Tournament for the fifth straight season, including all three years under the direction of head coach Ashley Stevens.