WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Catholic University women's lacrosse team fell to Scranton in the Landmark Conference Championship on Saturday afternoon.

The game began much like the regular season match-up between the two programs as a real back-and-forth affair. Grace Hill got the scoring started for Catholic just under four minutes into the contest before Erin Reich hit back for Scranton on the woman-up.

Mattea Del Peschio, Hill, and Caroline Beckett then rattled off three straight goals to put Catholic up 4-1. Then, after Reich scored again, Anna Corona netted a woman-up goal to match what would be the biggest Cardinal lead of the game and force Scranton to use a timeout.

Momentum shifted after the timeout, however, as Reich continued to cause Catholic problems and Grace Lane, who entered the contest having scored a team-most 55 times this season for the Royals, got going.

After the timeout, Scranton scored three goals in less than two minutes of game time to tie the game at five. The Royals were aided by a pair of Cardinal miscues, including a turnover leading to the Reich goal that knotted things up. 

After Kate Olsen netted her first goal of the game to push Catholic back ahead, the Royals turned to another gear, scoring the final four goals of the quarter to take a 9-6 lead to the break. Scranton outscored Catholic 7-1 to close the second stanza following Chrissy Trescavage's timeout.

Catholic looked to jump on the Royals immediately after the halftime interval and were successful, scoring just 22 seconds into the third quarter. Olsen converted from a Beckett feed to apply the pressure to Scranton but this was ultimately the closest Meghan McDonogh's team would come in the second half.

Landmark Conference Defensive Player of the Year Rachel Rubenstein did all she could to will her team back into the game. The junior looked inspired in the third quarter, causing multiple turnovers and gathering multiple ground balls. She ended the contest with a game-high four caused turnovers, four draw controls, and three ground balls.

Ultimately it wasn't enough as Scranton outscored Catholic 8-4 in the second half and 4-1 in the fourth quarter to solidify the victory. Reich had a monster game, netting eight goals en route to being named the Most Valuable Player of the Championship game. Grace Lane scored six goals and added one assist, meaning those two Royals combined for 14 of Scranton's 17 tallies. Lauren Boldis made 10 saves in the Scranton goal, stopping half of the shots she faced.

Corona was a bright spot for the Cardinals, netting a hat trick and winning four draw controls after getting the start.

This marks the first championship in Scranton's program history and only the second time that Catholic has not hoisted the trophy since women's lacrosse competition began in the Landmark Conference in 2008 (Susquehanna, 2013). The Royals and the Cardinals have met in the last seven conference championship games but this is the first time Scranton has been able to overcome Catholic in the all-important championship affair.

With the victory, the Royals earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will learn their opponent on Monday morning during the live NCAA Tournament Selection Show.