Lexington, Va. -- University of Lynchburg's field hockey team battled Saturday in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship game, but the Hornets fell just short of their fourth consecutive conference title, dropping a 3-1 decision to No. 11 Washington and Lee.

Washington and Lee jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first on a Tess Muneses goal and extended the lead on Peyton Tysinger's second-quarter goal to carry a 2-0 advantage into halftime. The Generals' defense held Lynchburg to just two shots in the first 30 minutes of play.

The Hornets came out of halftime with a vengeance, however, earning three third-period penalty corners but proved unable to cash in on any of them. W&L increased the lead to 3-0 in the 44th minute on Muneses second goal of the afternoon.

Lynchburg continued to be the aggressor in the fourth and finally broke up the shutout with 17 seconds left in the game. After earning the team's seventh corner of the half, Emma Strouse's insert went short to Skylar Dise, who fired the ball into the cage to bring the score to its final standing.

Goaltender Kayla Brady kept the Hornets in the game with 12 saves, the sophomore's fourth game of the season reaching double figures in that crucial department. Emily Dudley managed three shots for Lynchburg.

The loss marked the first time since 2017 that Lynchburg didn't hoist the ODAC's championship trophy, also a defeat on the Generals' home turf. Lynchburg falls to 21-9 all-time in conference championship games.

Jackie Lerro, Brittany Claybaugh, and Strouse represented the Hornets on the 2021 all-tournament team.

Lynchburg will now await the announcement of the NCAA Division III tournament field, which will come via press release Sunday evening. The Hornets (14-7) were ranked fourth in the latest Region VI rankings and hope to capture one of the seven at-large bids in the 26-team bracket.

Visit Lynchburg athletics' home online, LynchburgSports.com, anytime for up-to-the-minute news on all Hornets sports and coverage from the Lynchburg Hornets Sports Network. Click here to sign up for email and text alerts from Lynchburg athletics.

Give Lynchburg Sports a like on Facebook, and follow Lynchburg athletics on Instagram and Twitter.

--LYN--