BUCKHANNON – The West Virginia Wesleyan Lady Bobcat lacrosse team lost a close game at home against fellow Mountain East Conference foe Shepherd University by a score of 7-6 here Sunday afternoon.

The win would have moved the Lady 'Cats into first place in the MEC, however, turnovers and a strong defensive performance by the Rams prevented that from coming to fruition.

Wesleyan built an early 2-0 lead after getting a goal from Natalie Schaffner (pictured) less than two minutes into the game, and another from Emily Noel 15 minutes into the contest.

Shepherd scored the next three goals of the game to take a 3-2 lead over the Lady 'Cats.

Wesleyan tied the game at 3-3 after a successful free position shot by Kim Lubic with 2:19 remaining in the first half.

However the Rams would not go away easily scoring three goals in the final two minutes of the half and to take a 6-3 lead going into halftime.

Hannah Antonelli was able to bring Wesleyan to within two goals after scoring four minutes into the second half, making the score 6-4.

After nearly 16 minutes of tough play by both teams the Rams were able to tally another goal increasing their lead to 7-4.

The Lady 'Cats kept battling and was able to trim the deficit to two after Lubic scored another goal at the 8:45 mark.

Schaffner brought Wesleyan within one after slinging in a goal in between defenders with 6:16 remaining in the game.

The Rams played keep away for much of the remainder of the game in an effort to run out the clock and prevent the Lady 'Cats from scoring another goal and tying up the game.

In the end Wesleyan was unable to tie the game and consequently fell to 1-2 in conference play.

Wesleyan goalie Lexi Swisher recorded 15 saves in the contest.

The loss drops Wesleyan to 9-4 overall.

The Lady 'Cats will next take the field on the road against the University of Virginia-Wise this Friday.

The game is set to start at 5:30 p.m.