The Misericordia University women's lacrosse team opened its season with a tough 12-5 loss at Lebanon Valley on Saturday afternoon.
 
Olivia Garcia, Liz Mulvey, Alli Elmes, Melina Juliano and Brooke North all had goals for the Cougars while Juliano also added two assists.
 
Rachael Taylor led the Cougars with six ground balls while Taylor Simeone and Elmes each had three. Simeone caused a team-high four turnovers and Katie McLoughlin had 10 saves in the loss.
 
Lebanon Valley started the scoring at the 22:14 mark, but then Elmes tied it up less than one minute later.
 
However, Lebanon Valley scored the next five goals to take a 6-1 lead.
 
North and Mulvey added goals in the final four minutes of the first half to tighten the Cougar's deficit to just 6-3.
 
Lebanon Valley scored the first goal of the second half to extend the lead to 7-3.
 
Juliano answered for the Cougars just four minutes later to again make it a three-goal game.
 
The Dutchmen answered with the next four goals, putting the game out of reach and capturing a 12-5 victory over the Cougars.
 
MU falls to 1-0 and returns to action Tuesday afternoon at 4:00 against Goucher in Baltimore, MD.